Release Fear and Anxiety to Find Your True Path

Before a year and a half ago, I lived with a lot of anxiety. This was most prevalent in my work, but it spanned all aspects of my life.

I sought perfection in my work and was very critical of myself and sometimes of others when results fell short. I always worked long hours and agonized over details to make sure I could logically explain each aspect to be prepared for any question. I took it personally when I was not a part of important discussions.

I was hard on myself for not working out more and eating perfectly. I was consumed by any body ache and worried whether it was a serious illness.

I felt like I wasn't the best parent, partner, child or friend and often compared myself (and my shortcomings) to others I perceived were better at showing up for their loved ones. I worried - and prayed - often for the safety of my loved ones.

I lay awake most nights thinking about everything I did wrong or fell short on the day before. Or worrying about my loved ones. It was a stress-cycle. I was truly burning the candle at both ends.

I had faith, I had a lot to be grateful for and I was, but I still felt stress and anxiety in my mind and body.

Enter a year and a half ago. The stress and anxiety had caught up with me after a particularly busy time at work and I had a health episode. I lost feeling on my right side from my head down my body for about a minute and a half. I tried calling my husband and couldn't put words together. I feared I was having a mini-stroke.

I was able to call for emergency care and was brought to the ER. After a MRI and a series of tests, it was determined that I did not have a mini-stroke. Phew. But they did not know what the episode was and told me to see my primary physician.

After a week and more tests, my amazing primary physician shared that he thought my adrenal system was in a high stress mode and was literally perceiving any oncoming ailment as an emergency. I had stressed so much about my health that I created a health crisis.

This sent me on a journey to learn about stress and anxiety. I did NOT need to live this way and in fact, our bodies are not intended to live this way. We can choose another way.

After my health scare, I paused everything that was not necessary in my life to track my symptoms and acquire some better health habits. In this slow down, I started getting intuitive hits that led me to more and more healing information.

If my story sounds familiar or you find yourself in a similar situation, here are some things I learned that I hope can help you begin to heal.

• Recognize the difference between your ego and your intuition

The first important paradigm shift I learned was from author Atherton Drenth in her book The Intuitive Dance.

In the first sentence of the book, Drenth states, "You are not your ego. You think you are. You believe you are but you aren't. That may come as a shock to you, especially when you believe that your ego plays such a huge role in your life. I mean, how do you ignore that little voice in your head that knows you so well?"

Drenth defines the ego as follows: "It is the crazy voice in the back of your mind. It is always there, always nattering away. There are days when it just screams at you, and on other days it's subtle and subdued, whispering a constant stream of sweet insults at you. It cajoles you, humors you, harasses you, and makes you feel like you are the only person in the world who knows how to fix everything. It can also be the voice callously reminding you with a stern coldness of what a failure you are and that you will never get it right."

Sound familiar? It sure was to me.

Drenth uses Oxford Dictionary's definition of intuition: "The ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning." From Drenth I came to understand that intuitive hits come from a place of love rather than fear.

• Choose love-based thinking rather than fear-based thinking

It turns out that anxiety is triggered by fear-based thinking.

In the fourth chapter, Drenth states that all in all there are only two different emotions - love and fear. "All emotions can be reduced to these two basic emotions. When you examine what fear is and what it isn't, you will find that fear feeds the ego. Whereas when you examine love in the same way, you will discover that love feeds the inner calm within you."

I learned that I was operating in fear-based thinking, which is a low energy vibration and it was therefore attracting low vibrations back to me.

I wanted to attract love and happiness, so I had to do some work to release the fear-based thoughts.

• Release fear and control, learn to protect your energy

My fear-based thoughts were not in my highest and best interest. When I find stillness, I hear my intuition and ground my energy. This leads to happier thoughts and I feel better and more clear.

I also learned that we are all here to learn our own lessons. By trying to stop others from making mistakes, I was not allowing them to learn. I am learning to let people learn their own lessons and focusing instead on what I am here to learn.

This is a journey and one worth following.

The Intuitive Dance is EXCELLENT and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to move beyond anxious thinking.

How are fear and anxiety holding you back from your highest and best path? 

 

❤️☀️