Freedom from Fear

On the other side of fear is incredible freedom.  

How often do we allow our fears to inhibit us?  To keep us from showing up more fully?  From trying something new that we have always wanted to?  

My son, Kai, has joined 2 baseball teams – one is a tournament team and the other is for Little League.  This is a huge moment in his young life as he has always dreamt of having the jersey with his name and number on it and to be able to play on a team that travels.  With real coaches, consistent teammates, and a position!  

He was late to the game in the realm of organized sports as his special needs required some pacing in this realm.  

He and I were patient and now he is ready.  Early on in these more intense practices, he expressed his fears of fast balls (understandably!) and inadvertently was avoiding them.  This was, obviously, impacting his ability to really step into the game and play well.  

He expressed his fears to me and to his coaches.  He was heard and encouraged.  As these weeks have unfolded, I have witnessed him feeling more confident and stepping closer to the ball so-to-speak.  

He has continuously shown up and turned directly towards his fears.  He has met them wholly without hesitation or resistance.  

After the last practice he announced to me that he was no longer afraid of the ball.  I could tell as he was ripping it in his hitting, catching, and throwing.  

He had stepped in and was confidently meeting his fears and pushing through them.  I saw and felt a freedom in his state of being.  A lightness, joy, a deepening in connection to himself.  

It was a palpable shift in his entire way of moving through the world, which has remained.  

He is standing upright in who he is and it is so beautiful to witness.

I share this story with you all as a potent lesson and reminder of our human tendency to allow ourselves to remain blocked by fear.  We all do it.  

How often do we halt ourselves from doing something we want to out of fear?  Held back on speaking our truth for fear of backlash, in turn dishonoring ourselves and our needs?  

Fear inhibits us from living fully as our True, Embodied, and Awakened Selves.  

Fear is stifling, inhibiting, contracting, anxiety-provoking, and depressing.  

On the other side of fear is a freedom of being that cannot be experienced unless we take that step.  Take the deep breaths and step forward. 

Personally speaking, I feel fear every single time I put out my work, my voice, my face….yet, I am committed to continuously pushing past that fear so that I can be of support and service.  I know that if I allow the voices of fear to run the show, I wouldn’t budge in my life and, most importantly I would not be able to help others.  

I know that I have been put on the planet to support those on their path of healing, and, if I hunkered behind my fears, then I would be doing a disservice to those that I am blessed to work with.  

What are you afraid of that perhaps you can step towards doing?  

Where is fear keeping you stuck in a cycle?  Where do you feel inhibited by fear?  

What can you do, today, to begin to step out of the cycle and towards freedom?

It is a leap of faith without a doubt and I promise you, so worth it.  

May our children and the children around us continuously inspire us to live fearlessly and courageously so that we may all stand tall in who we are and move forward in our lives empowered, embodied, and awake.