"Everything you want is on the other side of your fear." Jack Canfield
Recently I performed in a play. It had been decades since I was in live theater. It terrified me and that is exactly why I had to do it. I have felt the call to bring more creativity into my own life. I believe that creating connects us to a higher power. It adds color our life, makes the dull colors of life come alive. But the fear of getting on stage and messing up can be paralyzing.
I thought I'd look into this creative arena to feed my creative soul. Before any interview I give, before any public speaking gig I do, I'm nervous, and the thought of performing in front of an audience live terrified me. But I would rather do something and mess it up than avoid it and do nothing.
I remember hearing an interview with Sarah Jessica Parker years ago and it always stuck with me. She said a role came to her that terrified her, and that is why she had to do it. If something scares you that much, it means your soul needs it and it will grow from it.
We have to delve deeper into our fear and what it is trying to tell us. We must explore what can happen when we come out from the other side of it. In doing so, we shift the patterns and inner dialogue of self-doubt, not feeling good enough and work through fear. Creative soul , people who perform or are in the public eye in any way need to work past these things to step into the public stage of life. It can be scary to be seen. To shine bright.
I once bombed a public performance in school and received some unkind criticism from the teacher and a couple of my peers. It fed into my "not good enough" shadow. That sort of experience sticks with us and can make it harder to repeat the action in the future. But life is going to be full of moments and people like that. We can’t let it make us a victim.
We will come up against moments that you can either let define you or turn it around and grow from it. See it as something happening for you rather than to you, and you won’t be a victim. People who are living their best life fail all the time, they bomb all the time, but they get up, dust themselves off and keep going. Don’t let it stop you.
Fear will always find an excuse not to do a thing. Know that you can't get rid of fear, that you have to work through it. When you do the things that you don’t think your good enough for, it feels expansive. You feel new possibilities for life. You feel alive. It’s true that everything you want is on the other side of fear. When you feel fear, it means something is incredibly important to you. Your destiny has been calling to you and it won't stop until you work through the fear and do it.
Performing in the play was cathartic because it helped me to break through a fear of failure. For me, to break free of the fear of criticism or failure was liberating. I felt unchained by my past.
“You can't get rid of fear, you must work through it.” Eileen Anglin
I'm not talking about having a fear of something dangerous that could harm you and doing it anyway. You know exactly what I am talking about. I'm talking about the fear of doing something that brings you out of your comfort zone. The fear of stepping into the public eye when you are afraid of being seen. The fear of failure when you are doing something you aren't great at (yet.) The fear of being creative and having someone tell you you're not any good or the fear of being visible because you’re so hard on how you look.
How do you work through the fear?
You must embrace the truth that you can't get rid of fear, you have to learn to work through it.
You have to feel the fear and do it anyway. After you do what you are afraid of doing, you realize it wasn't that bad. But you only get there through taking the action that scares you.
Create tools to help you process it. Learn how to change your inner dialogue. Find out where the fear is coming from (lack of self-worth, fear of failure, etc.)
Know that you are capable of handling this. Ask yourself, if you trusted yourself, would you do it? Trust yourself enough to know that even if you do stumble, you will be okay.
Tell yourself that you are worthy and you choose to be happy with this new choice you’re making.
Know that deep in your soul, that fear is just a door to a room filled with something so big, so important, so life changing, that it scares you a little. You know that what is behind that door is important to you.
When you move through the fear, your life will open up to you.
Eileen
Work through your fear. Defeat your self sabotage. Work through self doubt, fear of success, fear of being seen. Work with me to live a life that elevates you.
© Eileen Anglin LLC
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