Law of Attraction author, Gabrielle Bernstein classifies the nature of fear as the ultimate separation from love, going on to clarify that love is the very nature of who we are as people. Each and every one of us is pure positive energy, and fear essentially cuts us off from the very essence of who we are. In fact, most negative emotions can be distilled down to fear at their very core, most of which do not serve our higher purpose. Moreover, when we take care to nurture our fear, we are choosing apart from ourselves and driving a wedge between ourselves and our higher purpose.
In a practical sense, when we experience fear it frequently bears a relationship to the unknown. Our egoic minds are in a constant battle with the sole mission to protect us from danger, and the unknown represents the ultimate danger. So, we avoid it. In avoiding the unknown, we also avoid aligning to our highest purpose and greatest joy.
When I think back to the most fearless time of my life, I realize that it also brought me the greatest joy. I was fully aligned with the whole of who I am, more so than any other point in my life. I was in my late twenties and living in Brooklyn, NY, working three part-time jobs, and pursuing acting. Three of my friends were getting married and I would be in their weddings. This would require me to travel quite a bit for the duration of an entire summer. This adventure would also take me away from most traditional summer acting opportunities. So, what did I decide to do? Produce some theatre of my own...and while I was at it, maybe I should just file for a nonprofit with the IRS? I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I fearlessly forged forward. I was, fortunately, able to "push pause" on all three of my jobs rather than actually quit any of them, but the fact remained that I was about to take a wild leap. I had some west-coast friends scout us a venue to produce some theatre (I was going to be in Portland, OR), and we booked it. I bought a one-way airline ticket, sublet my room in Brooklyn, and prepared to leave. A dear friend of mine called me a week before my departure to check in on me. She asked, "So, where are you going to stay?" I told her that I didn't really know yet, and the truth is that I wasn't trying very hard to figure that out either (but I didn't say that part, it would have really stressed her out). She followed up by asking me if I had secured any temporary employment there. Again, the answer was a resounding "No." Again, if I'm really honest, I hadn't really been trying all that hard to do so. I had put a few feelers out there among people I knew, but no real looking. Quite frankly, my friend was terrified for me, but you want to know what's interesting? I wasn't. I had no fear whatsoever. Subsequently, I also had no resistance. I have to say, I think that was the key. Since I had no resistance, I wasn't doing anything to block the flow of abundance into my experience. I was completely open-minded about where I would stay, how I would earn money, and I had absolute faith that everything would align for me...and it did. Several friends generously gave me keys to their homes and access to their spare rooms. A couple other friends provided me with employment opportunities. One friend was managing a retail gift shop and needed an additional key staff member. Knowing I was trustworthy, she asked me to step in part-time. Another friend, a brilliant computer programmer, and musician had so much contract work that he barely had time to tend to his personal needs. He had plenty of money but was lacking in time to get simple household and personal things taken care of. So, he asked me to spend a certain amount of time each week helping him with things like grocery shopping, cooking, filing, bill pay, dog walking, etc. Now clearly, these two employment opportunities weren't lifelong career moves, nor were the housing opportunities long-term; however, the point is that these things all aligned perfectly because I was completely open to them and chose not to allow fear to be a part of the picture. In fact, I spent the better part of two years floating between Brooklyn and Portland; some of the best years of my life thus far. In the process, I gained everything from the experience of being radically open and having faith over fear.
As I pan back, I glance around me and ask myself "How fear is creeping in and robbing us of the experience of becoming truly aligned to our highest selves?" In a larger sense, fear is what keeps us from pursuing our greatest joy and highest calling. We hesitate; we simply do not trust ourselves enough to dive in and go for it. We see this play out in our lives in a broader sense but the telltale signs are also represented in our finances. We're too afraid to quit our day job when we know it isn't right for us. We bobble between fear and shame, so we don't bother opening that credit card statement, collections bill, or past due notice. We desperately want financial freedom but are terrified of what we don't know. We don't understand the market; we fear that it will crash. So, we keep all of our money in a mayonnaise jar buried in the backyard rather than educating ourselves on how to properly invest our money. We've always wanted to get into real estate, but are so scared of every "what if" imaginable that we never make it past the Zillow listing. But what if we could just choose love instead? What if we decided to love ourselves so much that we refused to entertain fear; that we told the egoic mind to let go because we've got this?! What if we loved ourselves so much that we couldn't bear to live a life that wasn't authentically aligned with who we really are? I suppose my question to you is this: How could you choose to love yourself so much that all of your life decisions originated from that place of love and not actually succeed? When operating from a place of that much self-love, fear doesn't have enough oxygen to grow, to sprout, to take root. Succeeding is the only option, and where succeeding is the only option, fear becomes arbitrary. Surely from this place, the actions that come to us will be inspired actions, and inspired actions will serve to march us along to the path of our highest calling.
As I sit here and remember back to my courageous, happy, aligned, 20-something-year-old self, I can see her leaning gently forward, and with wisdom not earned by her years, she whispers "So, what are you going to do?" Now I ask the same of you. What are you going to do?
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