The Quickest Way to Deal with Fears

The quickest and most effective way to overcome fears, in my experience, is to go right into them. I'm not talking about doing something dangerous, I'm talking about emotions and big fears of “small” things.

Fears that can seem silly and illogical but are based on feelings that are very real and come from way in the past. Stepping into the unknown, trying something new, being afraid of failure. All that can be scary but at the same time a gift.

Wondering or wishing or whining can only get us so far. We do the work. We visualize, we have faith, we enjoy life, we're grateful...

There comes a time when inspiration hits. There's a knowing without a reason. There might be doubt. But there's a pull, or a push. There's fear, there's maybe indecision, but in the end we know what we need to do. We might not know why...

But we do it. Sometimes just to challenge ourselves. An experiment on our own navigation through life journey. Crazy, we think, why would I do this to myself? But deep down we know there's a good reason. That it's a small step helpful in a big way.

So we jumped and now we might get confused. Where's the horror? It's not really what we might have expected. Fear fades, we're focused in the present now and there's nothing really that terrible happening.

The terror or panic comes from focusing on other than the present moment and projecting of what might happen. In the now, there's nothing to fear, there's stillness and infinite potential.

I've had many experiences of fears and challenges and each time I was surprised by how easy and smooth the actual experience was. The anticipation was the only scary part. For me it's usually connected to new situations, socializing and meeting people.

Did you have an experience where you were afraid but did it anyway? What happened?

How do you overcome fear? What are the ways that work for you?