Overcoming Fears“The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.” Mahatma Gandhi Overcoming fears is like a muscle that you can strengthen with practice. Each time you face your fear, you become stronger, more courageous and more confident. With each victory, you say to yourself, "I have faced fear before. I can handle it this time, too." The new obstacles that come along get easier to handle.
Often, the things that scare us the most, are the ones we have built up in our heads. Those are the ones that shadow us day-to-day, influencing what we do, what we say and what we think. For the better part of a decade, I was afraid of not having enough money. Worrying about paying off student loans and saving for retirement kept me up at night. Then, my house - along with so many other people's - was devastated by Hurrican Katrina. With only the clothes I was wearing and my adorable cat, I had to face my fear of ending up with nothing. You know what? Having nothing was surprisingly anticlimatic. In my mind, I thought it would be difficult and frightening. But, when fantasy became reality and I had to step up and take action, I was surprised at how unscary it all was. During that crisis, I didn't have time to think. The more you think, the more fear will wildly grow. When you think too much, your mind creates unlikely horror scenarios of what may happen. "If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today." E. Joseph Cossman Most of what we worry about never happens. While being temporarily homeless was uncomfortable, it certainly didn't ruin my life. In fact, just the opposite. I learned how blessed I was with family, friends and that I came out of that natural disaster alive. When I couldn't give money or old clothes to those less fortunate, I learned how to give my time and to truly listen to all the people in pain around me. I learned how to help those people find the strength and courage to rebuild their lives. The connections I made with the people in my community made my life richer, despite having nothing. A funny thing happens when you start overcoming fears. Many times you get the courage you need after you have done what you feared. Not the other way around.
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Exhausted? Stressed-out? Overwhelmed?
Hi,Courtney here, author of this site. When I developed anxiety and depression, I went to a psychologist, a psychiatrist and a physician, and to be truthful, in my experience, these people couldn't really help.Therapy sessions, yoga and getting more exercise lessened my anxiety symptoms, but did not stop them for good.
In fact, I later learned that because I was living in a constant state of low-level stress and anxiety, the chemicals in my brain had changed, making me more anxious and depressed. Clearly, merely managing my symptoms was not enough - in fact, following "the doctor's orders" made things worse....
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