the fear to love pipeline
a natural shift
Fear is a compass that points to places where we can better love ourselves through courageous action. When the thought of doing something, especially something that is normal and routine for many people, activates our self-preservation instincts, we have the beautiful opportunity to grow our understanding that it is safe to be who we are. We do this by doing the scary thing. We take the action, and we see that our imagined negative outcomes dwarfed any actual harm that came to pass. The practice of leaning into what we fear expands the dance floor on which we co-create our lives.
My strongest fears have been related to ego. If someone reacts a certain way to something I do, what does that say about me? It took me years to share my internet pseudonym with my family, and now my nervous system has no activation when I remember that they can see anything I create and share online (hello 🤗). I initially felt unsafe when thinking about organizing a meetup for a group whose members are mostly women: Will people be mad that I, a man, am organizing this gathering? Will people criticize me? Will they hate me? Me! Me! Me!
It helps me to remember my intentions when I consider taking an action that would rewrite one of my fear stories. I want to use my skills to help others. I want to experience greater connection with someone. I want to reinforce the importance of my core values by choosing them over fear. When I feel and embody the high energy of my intention as I step into my fear, I equip myself to feel resourced if someone reacts negatively. I feel more love for myself when I prioritize my expansion. Even when the process is slower than I would like, or when I flinch and shy away from fully committing to the action, I am transforming fear into love.