The antidote to fear and powerlessness

I was deleting mass emails to declutter my inbox this morning and came across an old Showing Up blog post on fear I wrote a few years back. It’s message is still relevant as we think about what we’ll give our time and attention to this year so I thought I’d repost it here with a few tweaks.

We all know there’s plenty of reasons to be fearful right now, whether it’s worrying about the environment, Covid, the upheaval in the US, the future or what’s going to happen next.

Fear contracts the heart and triggers a sense of scarcity and powerlessness within us. It distorts our perspective, blowing up issues into worst case scenarios making us forget the whole picture. Managing fear in our body takes alot of energy, precious energy we could be using elsewhere.

That’s why it's important to find ways that work for you to release excess fear in your body regularly - and exercise is one of the best things you can do to shift it..

That's the first step. The second step is this, a powerful antidote to fear and powerlessness:

Commit 100% to doing what you came here to do.

A true soul path isn't about personal fulfilment. It's about contributing in some fundamental way to something greater than yourself - whether it's through parenting, your work, supporting a cause, helping others or actioning that big idea you’ve been sitting on that just might change the world.

Only you know in your heart what you have capacity for at this time, and capacity is always something we need to monitor. But if you've been holding back because of fear and overwhelm or waiting for world uncertainty to subside, I urge you this year to direct that fear into purposeful action. Because that's where you do have power.

Sometimes you’ve just got to start where you are with what you have, and trust that it’s enough.

Your yearning to contribute will only be fulfilled when you start contributing! Not by more soul searching or waiting for a year when things are easier or you feel more comfortable ... that’s an illusion. There are no magic answers or perfect time.

This is the time.

Sacred action is the best antidote to fear and powerlessness we have.

I’m sure you’ve noticed there are so many people doing amazing things in the world. We don’t see that reported on the news, but they are there, in their millions, quietly and steadily helping others and making a difference.

That’s because heart-based action creates ripples in the right direction. The momentum of positive action is building just as surely as the fear pedalling. Which would you prefer - to be a part of an upswell of positive contribution towards the kind of world we know is possible or to hide and get spun up in constant fear-storms not of your making?

That's how we utilise fear - we bring ourselves into this life and we give it all we've got.

We use our gifts even if terrifies us to show up. We make the decisions that place our hearts outside our chests and jump into the ring Brene Brown style, because we know the time is now and we know it’s so needed.

Dive in please, the world is waiting.