Click for audio: From Fear to Creativity

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to point out the debilitating nature of fear, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded from time to time what we already know about it. More importantly, it’s helpful to be reminded that fear is an energy that we can redirect into creative action. We can all recall times when we had a change of heart, when our cowering before some appearance turned to a burst of strength.

There is a kind of fear that is related to self protection, when our body is endangered, for example. But it is even proven by the heroic acts of ordinary people, who knowingly put themselves in harm’s way for the protection of others, that there is something in us that is greater than even this level of fear.

Contemplating and responding to fear is like an open valve on an air compressor tank. If the air is not allowed to build up, the compressor cannot do the job it is created to do. When fear dominates, our creative energy becomes like the escaping air that disperses before being brought into any sort of positive service.

One technique I have found helpful is to ask myself a simple question: If this obstacle were removed, how would I feel? I not only answer the question, I also allow myself to feel the freedom I desire. This sometimes takes a little practice, but once you get an emotional glimpse of the freedom you desire, you’re on the right track. Turn the feeling of freedom into an affirmation. I am now free of this appearance. Nothing can stand in the way of my experience of freedom. Now your affirmation is not just words; it is words based on actual experience, a very creative combination.

Another part of overcoming fear is the simple decision to say, “Enough!”  How much farther into the corner are you going to allow fear to push you? How much more are you going to go without because fear is telling you that you can only have and be just so much?

We all have justifiable reasons to fear, to turn back because the path we are on appears to be threatening. The very thing that threatens us, however, is the very thing that is here to call out our greatest strengths.