To Overcome Fear


Yesterday, I attended a wonderful workshop on integrity given by Rev. Edwene Gaines of Unity. She described an experience she had several years ago at a workshop she attended on conquering fear. The first exercise was to rappel 200 feet down into a dark cave. Her nugget of wisdom about this experience was that in order to conquer fear, you have to give up your attachment to surviving.

That statement really stuck in my brain. The implications are obvious, I think, when one is talking about physical fears, such as rappelling into dark caves, walking on fire, or hang gliding off a cliff. It really struck me, though, how it applies to any of our fears.

For most of us, we are very attached to just surviving: to paying our bills, to keeping our jobs or keeping our busineses afloat, to hanging on to our relationships, and so on. We dream about great things like becoming rich, or having great relationships, or work we really love, or, dare I say, changing the world. Until we can loosen our attachment to just surviving and take that step off the cliff, we will be incapable of conquering our fears and of soaring to such great heights. Only then can we become great!