Fear is Useless, what is needed is Trust

Posted by admin in Blog (Weekly), Blogs

May
9

I thought that once I made the decision to move to Maui to live, it would be easy and everything would just fall into place. Not so. I know in my heart and soul this is what God is calling me to do, and God will give me everything I need, but it has not always been easy. I have committed to selling my house, so going home and selling all of my “stuff” that I have accumulated for years is mind-boggling. Leaving my family and friends and starting all over again and being in the mystery of “not knowing” what’s next stretches me to rely on God even more. It is called “Holy Courage.”

When I shared some of my concerns and fears about selling my house and moving with my son Tim, he said, “Mom, why wouldn’t it work out? Look at all that has happened to you already with going to Hawaii?” The light bulb went off and I said, “Of course it will work out, what was I thinking?” That was the problem – my thinking! How easy it is to forget the truth and go back to unhealthy thinking of fear and lack. When I dwell in the past or the “what ifs” of the future, I am not in the NOW where there is peace and love and God.

I am like a “thought detective” and as soon as I become aware that my thinking is negative, I work on changing my thoughts. I knew I needed to change my thinking if I was going to be at peace and manifest what I wanted. Instead of saying, “it’s going to be a challenge to sell my house in 2 months, it will never sell that quickly, ‘what if’ it doesn’t sell and I can’t move back to Hawaii?” I needed to change my thinking to: “My house will sell with peace, ease and grace at the perfect and right time and to the right and perfect person. I will be compensated the right and perfect price.” That felt so much better. I wrote exactly what I wanted down on paper and put it on my altar. I will pray and meditate with it daily, just like I did before I moved here. I thanked God in advance for the right and perfect person to rent my home and the right and perfect place to live in Maui. And that is exactly what happened. What you think about, you bring about.

My friend and I were talking about faith on the phone the other day. She asked, “Pat, do you ever get afraid?” I laughed and said, “Yes, of course I do, I am human” but I wasn’t feeling afraid at that moment. Little did I know that fear would grip me just a couple of days later and I would wake up in the middle of the night with racing thoughts and my mind felt like a blender that wouldn’t shut off. I know what it’s like to have anxiety, tightness in the chest and a knot in my stomach. It still amazes me that when a situation occurs unexpectedly and fear grips, my mind goes to the worst scenario, which of course, then causes more anxiety and fear. I am grateful to God when hidden fear comes up because it’s a sign that I need God’s love and healing. I have also been told that Mother Maui will bring up all of your “stuff.”

Thankfully, I know what to do when fear rears its ugly head. I know how to face my fears and work through them. I have the tools to move me forward that I have been practicing for years. I immediately sat down and prayed and meditated.

Here are my 7 miraculous tips when fear grips.

1. Slow down and breathe – plug into the power within – meditate, pray, journal

2. Feel your feelings – welcome in your feelings and don’t judge them or shame yourself

3. Identify negative self-defeating thoughts and change them by doing affirmations

4. Remember what God has done in the past

5. Be grateful – write a gratitude list, focus on what’s good rather than what’s missing

6. Forgive yourself, don’t shame yourself and love yourself

7. Let go and let God – surrender, detach and let go on control (and the outcome)

When I sat down to pray and meditate, I felt anxious and fearful about the situation I encountered. When I finished my prayer and did the above steps, I felt like a new person and my peace returned. I know that I am responsible for my emotional and spiritual health and I can choose to stay in fear and let my mind create all kinds of negative scenarios or I can choose peace, trust and surrender. When I wrote my gratitude list, my energy shifted almost immediately. Then, if the fear returns, I repeat the steps over until my peace is restored and I remember the truth of who I am and who God is in my life.

Psalm – “Fear is useless, what is needed is trust.”

Mine Is An Adventurous Heart – Julia Cameron, author of Artist Way

“I choose an expansive life. I choose adventure, freedom, self-expression. I choose self-definition, self-love and self renewal. Life expands or contracts according to my expectations. I expect good and that is what I experience. Viewing the whole, I choose to be interconnected yet independent. I allow the God-force within me to open and enlarge my lens of perception and realm of action. My horizons stretch ever wider as I define my identity in terms of my divinity. I am an adventurer, an explorer, a dreamer whose dreams become true. I embrace the adventure of life. I have courage.”