Paying Attention To Emotions
"It's what you do with fear that makes all the difference." - Laird Hamilton
I’ve been doing a lot of reflection on how I process and what I do with emotions, such as fear. I’m paying attention to how waves of fear affect me physically and what happens when I try to ignore them. When I am triggered with fear, I immediately feel queasy in my gut. Most of my life I have pushed it down, kept busy and just kept moving.
When fear gets stuck inside my body, it starts swirling, vibrating and shaking which becomes a low level form of chronic anxiety. When I can no longer ignore that annoying buzzing feeling, I sit down, meditate on encouraging scripture, repeat mantras or listen to a guided meditation.
I’ve recently become aware that I have been subconsciously embarrassed and ashamed of my fear. I’ve tried to control it, hide it and even apologize for it. When I attempt to ignore my fears completely and try to go straight to faith, trust, and calm, I believe I’m missing a step.
I am now trying to pay attention and listen to the fear in order to discover if there is some insight, wisdom and motivation from it for me to take a positive action. When I listen, I try to determine what is in my control and what is not and what is rational and what is irrational. I consider if there is any action for me to take with courage, love and care and then let the rest go.
For example, fear of not getting well or fear of my family getting sick inspires me to take appropriate action to take care of myself and do what I can to care for and protect my family. I can be motivated by my fear to take action, and then be guided by love and wisdom in how I respond.
I think what was missing for me before was deep self-awareness, true self-acceptance and unconditional self-love. I’m starting to see that fear can be a helpful tool and motivator and not something to hide or be embarrassed by.
Wherever you are on your healing journey, I encourage you to keep searching and seeking answers as you find what is most helpful to you. If this idea about fear was helpful to you in any way, please let me know.