Practice 16 · A Journey Through Fear

Now we go to one of the strongest feelings we experience: fear.

Locate an easy place, shut your eyes and allow your breathing to resume its natural pace. Whisper to your mind: We are going on a special journey together.

Shining Light on Fear

Bring to mind something that truly frightens you. Maybe it's:

• Losing someone you love.
• A health issue that hangs over your thinking.
• Fear of loneliness.
• A situation that gives you anxiety.

And now see what happens to your system:

• A constriction in your body.
• The heart accelerating.
• The breath turning shallow.
• The imagination running scenarios and what-ifs.

Your system is attempting to protect you; see how automatic it is.

Looking at Past Actions

Flash back over your life. How frequently have you been steered by fear?

• The times you missed opportunities.
• Times you stayed small, and did not move forward.
• Elaborate safety measures created just to avoid discomfort.

How often has the voice of fear said “I cannot,” and you believed it?

• Not going up to the person you were attracted to.
• Failing to apply to your dream job.
• Not speaking when your voice was needed.
• Not living, because you were afraid.

See how these weren't really conscious decisions. They were automatic defense responses.

The Critical Investigation

Ask now, still with this fear in mind:

• Is it I who am afraid, or I who knows the fear?
• When the fear is forgotten, do I vanish as well?
• Who am I, without the fear?

Look carefully. You can feel how the fear grows and sags, but in you is something that does not go.

The Liberating Discovery

And this is the finding: you are not fear. Fear is something that appears in awareness.

The body may react. The heart may race. The mind can spin its tales. Still, you, who know all this, are as solid as ever.

Out of this awareness, a new possibility arises:

• You need not be free of fear to act.
• You may go on while your body shakes.
• Your choices can come from clarity and purpose, not protection alone.

Fear is no more a wall. It turns into a guide. It usually points right in the direction of growth, at the boundaries of our comfort zone, where life is waiting to expand.

Keep this in mind: when you are afraid to dive in the water, dive scared. We do not wait until fear is gone. We bear it, and take the step.

Take a deep breath. Open your eyes very tenderly. Experience the newness of this discovery: you are at liberty to live fully, not because fear will vanish, but because it will not enslave you.