The Three Faces of Fear
A Fear-Busting Tool To Help You Get Unstuck & Stepping Into Possibility
Fear is a many-splendored thing, for sure. There are dozens of words used to describe different levels and types of fear, which makes fear all the more overwhelming.
As my pal, Marijke van Veldhoven, so beautifully captured in her comic strip, when I catch myself strangled and stuck by fear, I find naming it based on one of three categories helps me navigate my way through.
1. Anxiety - fear of future results you can't control
2. Regret - unhealthy attachment to narratives about the past we can't change
3. Overwhelm - angst over the uncertainty about the present
So, what's the value of these naming conventions?
My childhood love of Ursula Le Guin‘s A Wizard of Earthsea taught me the power of naming things. Naming helps you see, accept, and identify what truly is and enables you to see, step into, and stay in your power to negotiate and navigate it.
When fear comes to visit, naming it is the challenging and necessary step for finding your way through.
What form is fear showing up in for you today? What's its name? What's next?
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This reminds me of something i read a long time ago.
Fear/shame. Only is scary in the dark[unknown] Once you bring it to the light[known] then it's not so bad. In fact it feels a little ridiculous that you were scared of whatever it is.
Not saying it as a truth but a possibility.