We never know another’s story, and sadly, some people may not even fully comprehend their own story. I have been fascinated with psychology since I was four. Sometimes, I wonder why I did not become a psychiatrist; yet I digress. One of the topics that has fascinated me is fear.

MY TWO CATEGORIES OF FEAR

Emotions are not good or bad, they are simply signals that try to tell us something is out of alignment. This is my perspective. The problem with fear is that the body responds by producing certain chemicals and when the body is constantly exposed to these chemicals long term, we develop health problems. Furthermore, our bodies respond to fear the same way whether the threat is real or imagined.

The first category of fear is what I call, our response to something that is life or physically threatening. This is a real threat to our survival, as in death or injury is possible. I am not referring to the fear of not passing an exam or of not having enough money to pay the bills. This I consider a normal response appropriate to the situation and this fear usually goes away when the threat diminishes or goes away. Example: once I was driving and speeding to go through a yellow light, my car went on two wheels. I was afraid I would crash and die. That fear was an appropriate response to the threat.

The second category of fear is what I call, our response to our imagination or thinking. This is the fear that I am convinced leads to health problems and poor quality to life. I was shocked to realize just how many people are living in this fearful state. My “AHA MOMENT” was the realization that for decades I had been living under a veil of fear, that I was responsible for creating because of my core beliefs and my distorted patterns of thinking. While there was initially a real threat to my survival, I had continued to live in the present with the baggage of my past negative core beliefs.

LIVING IN THE PRESENT WITH BAGGAGE FROM THE PAST

There are many things I can write here; however, I think the four most important things I took away from my experience are:

1. Learning to fully TRUST God and know the TRUTH
2. LET GO of the past and be FULLY PRESENT [be in the now]
3. BE PATIENT with God and yourself.
4. Learn to practice ACCEPTANCE because there will be real trials and tribulations.

No one knows what tomorrow will bring and no one has any control over what tomorrow will bring. The idea behind trusting God is to know NO MATTER what, He will get you through. This is where many people stumble. They believe a lot of things that are simply not biblical.

1. God is not interested in me.
2. Who am I that God would want to listen to me?
3. I have sinned so much; God will never forgive me.
4. God is only interested in the BIG problems.

THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF GOD

Once you understand that everything about you is important to God, many still struggle with that gnawing sense of dread/fear. This is when I realized you must be MINDFUL that you are creating these feelings. Be mindful of your continually defaulting into[choosing]:

1. Unhealthy patterns of thinking
2. Limiting beliefs about self
3. Negative beliefs about the world
4. Forgetting the TRUTH

My attitude these days is probably a bit cavalier; however, if you know that for decades I struggled with relaxing and just trusting life, you begin to understand my change. We cannot change anything or ourselves without the help of God. Therefore, either we learn to FULLY TRUST Him, or we will continue to create feelings of fear because we are holding on to lies.