Fear, fuel and other f words…
- At February 10, 2012
- By Christa
- In Hope and Grace, Lessons for Life
6
Fear is excitement without breath.
~ Robert Heller ~
I’ve been wondering for a while now – what if a lot of what I label as fear is actually excitement? Excitement with an edge, maybe, but excitement, nonetheless. And if the “fear” is actually excitement, couldn’t it be used as fuel to propel me forward?
That thought has been floating around my noggin for an embarrassingly long time, actually. I’ve been playing with it, and doing what I ask my clients to do. Getting curious, just observing, letting it hang out with me and watching where it goes.
It went to Google, finally, typed in “fear and excitement quote” (I know, you picture me pulling these quotes out of thin air or leather bound books. Sometimes I do, and sometimes Google does it for me), and up popped just the answer I was looking for.
It’s true, isn’t it? When we are afraid, we tend to hold our breath. And when we hold our breath, energy gets stuck and whatever emotion we are feeling isn’t really going anywhere, is it? Or at least that’s how it feels. When I operate from fear, time slows down to a point where molasses would seem to pour at warp speed. And when I move from excitement? Things happen so quickly that I am hoping there’s a brake pedal somewhere, just in case. Minutes expand into hours, days open up into weeks and it is all ridiculously fun, no matter how difficult the actual task might be.
So that’s the other “f word”. Fun. Not, perhaps, what you were expecting.
I’ve been having fun playing with fear, watching it swirl around me, trying to upset my stomach and scrunch up my brow. Just like fishing – I let it take the line, and then I reel it back in, with breath and attention and a whole lot of compassion. And when I add all that? Things get exciting. They move forward at incredible speed, doors fly open, and I just watch, in complete awe, taking it all in.
I suspect I’ll be having fun with fear for quite some time – want to join me? Just notice when you tighten up, when you resist what is. Take a deep breath or two (or thirty), move your body and see if you can find a thread of what might be excitement. Go to that edge. Stay there. See what happens… let me know!
Julia
Oh, damn! I love this. I’ve been playing with this idea for a while now too and I think it’s absolutely brilliant and can truly help people seriously shift things.
This:
“I’ve been having fun playing with fear, watching it swirl around me, trying to upset my stomach and scrunch up my brow. Just like fishing – I let it take the line, and then I reel it back in, with breath and attention and a whole lot of compassion. And when I add all that? Things get exciting. They move forward at incredible speed, doors fly open, and I just watch, in complete awe, taking it all in.”
is kick ass.
I’m definitely joining you on this, my friend!
Love,
Julia
Julia
P.S: I love the feel of that photo, what a sleek, cool cat slinking around. And that quote too–good reminder to BREATHE through it all.
You’re awesome.
Pam
Another “keeper!” Mostly my fear feels linked to shame-shame-shame, but with Gendlin focusing I’ve also been playing a bit with linking it to pleasure and trying to stay with the desire. I love your imagery!!! Very exciting!
judy
There’s been times in my life when my whole world was crashing around me.. so much grief, fear, change at once.
But I noticed that through it all there was an element of excitement(something about what the new way was going to be?). I think, for me, it was about Trust.. my inherent trust in my path, in the Universe.
Your words are wonderful, Christa.. keep them coming!
Christine
I read your first paragraph and I almost skipped the rest of the post and just jumped down here to comment. But then I slowed down…and read it all. The reason? BECAUSE I have been thinking about a version of this very same thing recently. I’m not sure I can do my thoughts justice without writing a book in your comments, but it’s all swirled up with the feelings of stress, being overwhelmed, being challenged and feeling fear at work. The feeling is so familiar to me that I was starting to worry about where it was all headed, the familiar anxiety in my tummy, and then I began to think, what if I get on off on this stuff? I mean, really what if it actually motivates me instead of cripples me. Oh how much I could say!
denise
Hmmmm. You raise an interesting thought here. I agree with you–fear and anxiety can accompany both good, exciting thoughts and bad, scary thoughts. It’s not an emotion that regulated only to bad. It’s an important distinction! Thanks, friend.