Image by Luisella Planeta Leoni
Narrated by Marie T. Russell.
Life comes with its own set of challenges. Some are minor hurdles to cross, others can call up a lot of fears from the depth of our being. Fear of failure, fear of sickness (and/or death), fear of poverty, fear of being unloved, fear of losing your job, etc... You can add to the list from your own personal life experiences and fears. Sometimes it seems as if we are trapped in this maze of fears. But we are not trapped. There are ways out of the maze once we learn the ropes, and them we can attain the results we desire.
Believe
In order to conquer our fears or doubts about our future, we must first believe that health, happiness, and success will be ours. Unfortunately our society has taught us to focus on the negative. A simple example of this is when we say "I'm catching a cold". My response to that is: Don't catch it, let it go. In other words, if we believe we are catching (or will catch) a cold, we are "instructing" our body to do so. We are programming that result into our future.
So rather than believe you are catching a cold, or failing, or whatever fear is the current one, choose to believe the opposite. Choose to program into your belief system that you are getting healthier and healthier every day. Choose to believe that you are safe. Choose to believe that success is inevitable. Choose to believe that your dreams are coming true.
Before anything can take place in our life, we must believe that it can. As Wayne Dyer wrote: You'll see it when you believe it. If we don't believe in the possibility, we won't recognize it when it shows up. We must believe the door is there before we can see the door opening.
Relax
When someone is trying to hand you a gift, if your hands are clenched in a fist, you won't be able to receive it. In the same way, if our energy is all clamped up tightly with stress and fear, we can't receive the blessings the Universe is sending our way.
When we are in fear or stressed-out, we tend to hold our breath. And thus life's flow is put on hold, or at least hindered, since we are not breathing fully. Our breath allows energy to flow through us.
In order to get to the other side of fear, we must focus on relaxing, and we can do that through the breath. Whatever fear we are facing... of illness, job loss, relationship problems, any kind of failure, etc... slow and relaxed breathing will get us to a mental and emotional state where we can receive intuitive guidance as to what we need to do in order to resolve the problem.
Visualize
The reverse of Wayne Dyer statement (You'll see it when you believe it), is also true. We must "see it to believe it", but not in the way that people usually use that expression. People usually state it as doubt or ridicule, "I'll believe it when I see it!" But what if that was actually part of the process? We need to see the end result we want, whether it is a fantastic goal, or something as intangible as inner peace, or something we can barely imagine like perfect health or perfect happiness.
We must first see it within our imagination, within our heart, within our inner thoughts, in order to assist it in becoming reality. It's a bit of a circle. First you must see it on the inside, then believe in it, and then you will see it on the outside. Whatever we are desiring, it first has to be visualized internally before it can take form on the outside. This quote by Robert Collier says it very well: "Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint, and begin to build."
If you're building a house, you "see it internally" as you imagine what you'd like, then it gets written down on paper in the form of a blueprint, and then it takes form in reality as it gets built. That works for everything. Any invention, any project, any goal. First you think of it, imagine it, then you believe in it and next turn it into reality.
So whatever it is you wish to attain -- a new job, a different living space, better health, more self-confidence, anything -- start by seeing it internally in your imagination. Imagine and visualize the end result, feel yourself experiencing it with joy, love, and gratitude. And then let your inner guidance and intuition lead you to how to make that dream a reality. See it (internally), believe it, and then you will see it come true (externally).
Be Grateful
At times, we may be so focused on what we want, what we need, and what we don't have, that we neglect to be grateful for what we do have, here and now. For example, perhaps you're suffering from a sprained wrist... but while doing so you can also be grateful that your ankles are fine, your heart is in good health, your digestive system is working properly, your career is doing well, your loved ones are healthy, etc. etc.
If we are so caught up in the negativity around us and in the fears that are prevalent in our life and in society, we then forget to take notice and focus on the good things, on the positive things, on the happy situations in our life. Life is never all negative or dark. There is always some joy to be found if we look for it. There is always some light in any situation, but again we must open our eyes and look for it.
Focusing on the things we have to be grateful for helps improve our situation which then helps raise our energy, not just emotionally but physically as well. To help conquer your fears and doubts, start spending some time contemplating the things you have to be grateful for. You will feel better for it, and your life will also feel better. Gratitude is wonderful medicine, just like laughter, joy and love.
Observe
So many things take place in our life that we may not even be aware of. There are many things going on in the background of our life that all contribute to its richness. And there are many things going on within our self and our mind that we would be well served to observe as well.
Of course there are all the miracles of life taking place constantly in our body, but there are also miracles all around us... sometimes we refer to these as coincidences or synchronicities, or perhaps just a lucky break. And many times these take place without our even noticing them because we are not observing our life as someone "on the outside" would see it.
But as we start observing our life and the events and insights that take come to us, we start to see how it all fits into a larger puzzle. Pay attention to all the coincidences, happy synchronicities, and luck that come your way, or that you see in other people's lives. The more you observe, the more of these happy events you will notice. Open your eyes, both physically and intuitively, and see all the magic that constantly takes place in your life.
Take Action
Of course, after we've done all the previous steps (Believe, Visualize, Relax, Be Grateful, Observe) we must take action because otherwise everything just remains a dream or a fantasy. Whatever we want to attain or realize, after we've had the inspiration or vision, we must at some point move on to action.
Taking action means more than just starting, it requires sustained action, day after day, moment after moment. It can't be like those New Year's resolutions that sometimes fall away after a few weeks. To reach our goal, to break through the stagnation and inertia, we must take sustained action.
Every day, we must focus on our dream, our vision, our goal. We start by believing and visualizing, and we observe ourselves and our surroundings so we know what the next step needs to be, and then, we take action. As Lao-Tzu stated over two-thousand years ago, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
Allow
One of the greatest hindrances to attaining our goals, whether our goal is an attitude or an aptitude, is our lack of trust and our attempt to control the outcome. We may think we know what and when is best for us, but since we only see a small part of the picture, we don't really know what is best for us in the long run. The solution is to trust in the process -- starting with believing and moving through to taking action -- and then allow the end result to come to us at the right time and the right place.
As mentioned in the book The Fearless Path by Curtis Rivers, the process can be compared to baking a cake. You follow the recipe, put the cake in the oven at the right temperature, and then you allow the process to take place. You have to trust and allow the cake to rise and bake in its own time. You don't keep opening the oven to check how it's doing.
So it is with our goals and dreams. Once we get all the ingredients together, set the right temperature (which includes our beliefs, attitudes, and actions), we must allow divine timing to take place. When the time is right, the end result will come to be. Once we have a goal set in our mind and heart, we must trust and allow it -- or something better -- to arrive in our lives.
Article inspired from:
The Fearless Path
The Fearless Path: What a Movie Stuntman's Spiritual Awakening Can Teach You about Success
by Curtis Rivers
Curtis Rivers is a ’Law of Attraction’ expert who has harnessed fear. Eliminating the fear that holds most people back, he clears the path to unlimited success. Using the methods openly shared in this book, Curtis has bypassed fear to win a Screen Actors Guild award, gain prestigious inclusion into the Hollywood Stuntmens Hall of Fame, and break two Guinness World Records. Curtis now delivers powerful presentations that change the way people think, helping them to smash through fear and transform their lives.
Click here for more info and/or to order this book. Also available as a Kindle edition.
About The Author
Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.
Creative Commons 3.0: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Attribute the author: Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com. Link back to the article: This article originally appeared on InnerSelf.com
