The "theme-of-the-week"
(if a week can have a theme) has been fear. Of course, I love the plays on the
word, such as false evidence appearing
real. I found a website with many more. Here are just a few:
Frustration,
Ego, Anxiety, Resentment
Forever
Escaping And Retreating
Frantic
Efforts to Appear Recovered
For Everything a Reason
Forgetting
Everything's All Right
Knowing everything is all right does
not help much when you are in the middle a mental/emotional pattern that has
triggered fear or anxiety. Tapping (Emotional Freedom Technique) is a good resource to
learn now so you can navigate with clarity when you are confronted by a real
risk. At some point, in some way, you must confront your fear or you will lose
more and more freedom to enjoy life.
Every faith tradition seems to
encourage us to overcome fear and anxiety. Hebrew scriptures say it this way: "I will
not be afraid, because the Lord is with me. People can't do anything to me."(Psalm
118:6) According to Buddhism, fear is at the very root of ego.
In the article, "Starting on the Path of Fearand Fearlessness", Judith Lief, writes, "We have our conscious
day-to-day fears—of a close call, an accident, a bad health diagnosis. But then
there is an undercurrent of fear, which is very relevant to practitioners. This
undercurrent of fear lurks behind a lot of our habits. It is why it is so hard
to just sit still or stand still or stand in line—not doing anything in
particular—without feeling nervous and fidgety. We have a fear of being still."
This week, I attended a book signing
by Patty
Chang Anker, author of Some Nerve:Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave, and former Director of Media
Relations for The New York Times. Patty was in Saint Joseph to visit the scene of one of her overcoming.
Having experienced a near-drowning in a river as a youngster, she faced the
fear of water in one of the most chilling settings: Surfing on Lake Michigan in February!
 |
| Patty Chang Anker, author of Some Nerve: Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave. |
Recently, the local evening news ran a story
about another brave woman, Jules Follett, who has overcome the fear of heights.
Although it is not mentioned in the news story, one of our SCS/NLP graduates,
Kimberly DeFields Bay, initially guided Jules through the Fast Phobia Cure
(developed by Richard Bander) under my supervision as a demonstration of mastery. It is a simple technique, with profound benefits!
 |
| Jules Follet (your right), enjoying no fear of heights after the fast phobia cure, in Dubai. |
While it is true we do not have to become as
adventurous as Patty—or as world-traveled as Jules—to know they are enjoying a life free of irrational
fears, it is exciting just to know you, too, can. Then just sit back and see what
marvelous things are able to happen in your life....
