I want to talk about fear today before I go into thoughts, thought work, and self awareness.
I just recently started writing this, obviously. Yet, I have been on that proverbial "journey of self discovery" for several years. So why has it taken me so long to start putting this out there?
FEAR!!
I really thought about this after writing the first post, and I was reminded of several things about fear.
The first thought was about being what Brene' Brown calls a "creative". It's interesting to me how much time she spends talking, not about creativity directly, but about vulnerability. I didn't understand why she did this for quite a while. But now I understand why, and that understanding has been powerful. How?
There are innumerable ways to be creative. You can spend endless time talking about doing this, that, or the other in this field or that area. Is this going to be helpful? Maybe a little for some people. But this is so vast and so varied because we are so different and unique. It's just not practical to talk about that in general terms.
Let's look at something that is common to almost all of us in a creative process - fear. What do we all face when we branch out and start to pursue something new for us? Fear
What does this look like?
Our brain starts to talk to us and tell us all kinds of"poisonous" thoughts, and these thoughts are endless. There are some common ones that I want to mention.
- That's funny that you think you can do that.
- That's already been done. You're wasting your time.
- You don't know how to do this.
- You aren't good enough.
- You aren't smart enough.
- You aren't capable enough.
- Other people are going to think this is stupid.
- Other people are going to criticize me.
- You are going to fail.
I love the thoughts "what is my story" and "what narrative am I using" When we can step back and do some self reflection, using these questions, we start to see how our minds are holding us back. The greatest impediment to us moving forward is our own brains. Let's do some work in being self aware and recognizing our thoughts and banish that fear.
I love a quote that Brene' Brown uses, from Theodore Roosevelt called "The Man in the Arena"
It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly;
who errs, who come short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who neither know victory or defeat.
There are some awesome thoughts about this. The first is that whenever we allow ourselves to become vulnerable enough to begin to put ourselves out there and start to create is that there will absolutely be critics. Brene' likes to say when you enter that arena, you will get your &@% kicked!
That's what humans do, unfortunately. The second is failure is an integral, if unwanted, part of the creative process. The third is the realization of the power and capability that we have within ourselves. We have the capacity within each of us, as children of a loving Heavenly Father, to do great things. When we trust in that and keep pushing forward, we will achieve great things. We will feel that satisfaction of achievement that those who don't recognize and become aware of their thoughts and stay "small" will never have the joy of feeling.
Let me also say that even knowing these things, it still took me a couple of years to actually start this journey. Recognizing our thoughts is just the first step, and doing this takes work. It also takes work to then go through the process of creating a new thought that allows us to show up as a better version of ourselves. Then it takes the work of persistent practice. Our brains are wired for efficiency. Our thoughts are no different. What our brain is familiar with is the most efficient thought to have. To create and change to a new, more helpful thought, is going to take time and effort for this new thought to become the "default".
This process continues throughout our lives. This is a part of what it means to "put off the natural man." Another big part of putting off the natural man within all of us is recognizing and overcoming that fear.
Fear is not from God. He doesn't want or intend to live with that. He is wise enough to know that fear is for our benefit, and kind enough to allow us to experience fear. But He also wants us to learn how to face it and overcome that fear. That is the pattern of life and learning, This is line upon line, precept upon precept.
The best news of all is that He is there to help us. He has given us all the tools we need to be successful. And most importantly, He has provided as a Savior, who has given us His Atonement, the greatest gift and source of help that is available to us.
I just recently started writing this, obviously. Yet, I have been on that proverbial "journey of self discovery" for several years. So why has it taken me so long to start putting this out there?
FEAR!!
I really thought about this after writing the first post, and I was reminded of several things about fear.
The first thought was about being what Brene' Brown calls a "creative". It's interesting to me how much time she spends talking, not about creativity directly, but about vulnerability. I didn't understand why she did this for quite a while. But now I understand why, and that understanding has been powerful. How?
There are innumerable ways to be creative. You can spend endless time talking about doing this, that, or the other in this field or that area. Is this going to be helpful? Maybe a little for some people. But this is so vast and so varied because we are so different and unique. It's just not practical to talk about that in general terms.
Let's look at something that is common to almost all of us in a creative process - fear. What do we all face when we branch out and start to pursue something new for us? Fear
What does this look like?
Our brain starts to talk to us and tell us all kinds of"poisonous" thoughts, and these thoughts are endless. There are some common ones that I want to mention.
- That's funny that you think you can do that.
- That's already been done. You're wasting your time.
- You don't know how to do this.
- You aren't good enough.
- You aren't smart enough.
- You aren't capable enough.
- Other people are going to think this is stupid.
- Other people are going to criticize me.
- You are going to fail.
I love the thoughts "what is my story" and "what narrative am I using" When we can step back and do some self reflection, using these questions, we start to see how our minds are holding us back. The greatest impediment to us moving forward is our own brains. Let's do some work in being self aware and recognizing our thoughts and banish that fear.
I love a quote that Brene' Brown uses, from Theodore Roosevelt called "The Man in the Arena"
It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly;
who errs, who come short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who neither know victory or defeat.
There are some awesome thoughts about this. The first is that whenever we allow ourselves to become vulnerable enough to begin to put ourselves out there and start to create is that there will absolutely be critics. Brene' likes to say when you enter that arena, you will get your &@% kicked!
That's what humans do, unfortunately. The second is failure is an integral, if unwanted, part of the creative process. The third is the realization of the power and capability that we have within ourselves. We have the capacity within each of us, as children of a loving Heavenly Father, to do great things. When we trust in that and keep pushing forward, we will achieve great things. We will feel that satisfaction of achievement that those who don't recognize and become aware of their thoughts and stay "small" will never have the joy of feeling.
Let me also say that even knowing these things, it still took me a couple of years to actually start this journey. Recognizing our thoughts is just the first step, and doing this takes work. It also takes work to then go through the process of creating a new thought that allows us to show up as a better version of ourselves. Then it takes the work of persistent practice. Our brains are wired for efficiency. Our thoughts are no different. What our brain is familiar with is the most efficient thought to have. To create and change to a new, more helpful thought, is going to take time and effort for this new thought to become the "default".
This process continues throughout our lives. This is a part of what it means to "put off the natural man." Another big part of putting off the natural man within all of us is recognizing and overcoming that fear.
Fear is not from God. He doesn't want or intend to live with that. He is wise enough to know that fear is for our benefit, and kind enough to allow us to experience fear. But He also wants us to learn how to face it and overcome that fear. That is the pattern of life and learning, This is line upon line, precept upon precept.
The best news of all is that He is there to help us. He has given us all the tools we need to be successful. And most importantly, He has provided as a Savior, who has given us His Atonement, the greatest gift and source of help that is available to us.
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