I found myself camping out in my fear zone lately; I know I am not the only one. The discomfort of living here lately led me to dig deep into my heart for the wisdom my fear-ridden mind needed to hear. I pray it is what your precious soul needs to hear, too.
When we are frozen with fear, all it takes to start stepping out of the freeze zone is a single decision. When we live in the fear zone, we are frozen by indecision, fearing any step we take might be the wrong one.
When we stop making decisions out of fear that we won’t make the right choice, we are letting fear freeze us from actually living. When we are stuck in indecision, we aren’t truly living; we are coasting in limbo brought on by fear—fear of the past repeating itself or fear of making more mistakes in the future.
The thing we need to see is that there is no right or wrong; every choice we make helps us learn about ourselves and gain greater awareness of what is true for us. Each decision regardless of what happens is a blessing because of what it teaches us; right or wrong is null in this sense.
There is no feeling worse than staying stuck in our fears and living in a pool of indecision. When we find ourselves trapped in this fearful place, we must see that our fears are causing us to procrastinate. Procrastination is fear’s best friend; it keeps us right where it wants us (from ever moving forward and stepping past that fear).
Pray Your Fear Away
When you find yourself feeling frustrated or stuck, not knowing what choice to make, pray. Pray for the following:
For the Divine perspective to enter your mind so that you may reach a decision.
For the fear and doubt to dissipate from your mind.
For the patience to wait while the Divinely planted wisdom in your heart travels upward to your head.
When that Divine wisdom finally reaches your head, it is time to combine your heart's wisdom with your mind's awareness. Humbly pray:
For the ability to discern what direction you truly desire to take.
When you have your verdict, pray:
For the courage to act.
Fear will keep you from acting (even when we know what we need to do). But fear can also be our friend, urging us to pay attention to the awareness we glean from the past. Robert Ingersoll says, "Courage without conscience is a wild beast." In essence, the awareness reached from paths traveled in the past aids our courageous heart in choosing our next direction wisely.
onward and upward: gaining momentous ground
The gift of taking even one small step is the forward momentum this step creates. It motivates us to no end because we see we have successfully stepped out of the stronghold of fear. This momentum makes us feel empowered; we see that we’ve overcome our fear by making a choice. Even if that choice ends up taking us down a tough path, at least we will have determined that it’s not a path we want to take again.
Herein lies the blessing: had we stayed frozen in the fear zone, we wouldn’t have learned this lesson. We’d still be wading in the kiddie pool, afraid of swimming out into the deep end.
My dear friends, life is found in the deep end. If we wade around in our fears forever, we’ll always be wishing we had the courage to truly live the life we imagine. The life we imagine is one that is beyond anything we can even imagine ourselves, but it won’t be found in the kiddie pool.
Indecision, procrastination, doubt and worry are all disguises of fear. Fear will continually keep us stuck in the kiddie pool unless we decide it’s time to swim out into the potential that exists when we move past our fears.
If you are stuck, let fear be your motivator. Let the horrendous feelings of being stuck in the kiddie pool encourage you to step out and finally make the choices that lead to your heart's desires.
No one ever discovered greatness by waiting around for life to happen in the shallow end; they took action and courageously created the life of their dreams. And so can you. So, grab the floatation device of faith and say your prayers fervently. Life doesn't wait, and neither should you.