Have you ever felt the urge to completely reinvent yourself? Perhaps what was once a source of excitement, inspiration, or aliveness, has now evolved into a sense of boredom, monotony, and stagnation.
Or maybe what began as a quiet gentle whisper periodically inviting you to consider the possibility of stepping into a new career, relationship, partnership, investment, or otherwise, is now a resounding voice that persistently calls you to make a change.
The Urge to Step into the Unknown
Interestingly an urge is inspiring you to not just make a small minuscule change, but a major life change that could drastically upend life as you know it. Understandably everything about it literally scares the sh** of you. Naturally, you have done practically everything imaginable to silence it only for it to consistently resurface reigniting a felt sense of urgency.
Whether you long to step out of the predictable space of the familiar, and into the possibilities that exist beyond your comfort zone. Or, just maybe you are sick and tired of every step you make to dismantle your fears, keeping you in a state of perpetual inaction.
This post offers 4 ways we can use mindfulness to combat fear, and boldly step into the unknown, making dreams a reality.
Holding On to What Is
Do you ever find yourself doing everything you possibly can to step into something new, all the while you comfortably remain within your comfort zone?
After all, who doesn’t love a comfort zone, it’s comfy, cozy, inviting, and familiar, bringing a felt sense of safety, and ease. In every sense of the word, being in our “comfort zone,” simply fosters a sense of familiarity that we can’t get when we are in a state of discomfort. In fact, most of us, recoil at the very thought of willingly entering into a space of uncertainty. Interestingly, discomfort, unpredictability, and unfamiliarity, all accompany change.
Anytime you set out to step into something new, you open yourself up to the uncertainty of change. No matter how much we recoil at the very notion of willingly entering into a state of discomfort, it is essential for change. Everyone longs for the byproducts of beneficial change that works in their favor. However, no one wants to bask in the discomfort of stepping outside of their comfort zone, blindly stepping into the unknown for something that may or may not work in your favor. Because of this, many dreams have fallen by the waist side.
Why Fear the Unknown?
It is widely known that fear accompanies the unknown. Likewise, our thoughts often gravitate towards preparing ourselves for the worst-case scenario. The problem is, the more we focus on the very worst that could possibly happen, the more likely we are to go into a downward spiral, eliciting, even more, fear, apprehension, and uncertainty.
Unfortunately the more we replay these reels of the absolute worst that can happen, the more likely we are to stay within the safe, familiarity of our comfort zone. Thankfully we all have the power of choice where we can consciously choose to accept to invite more of the same into our life, or we can shift our perspective to remember the very reason why we choose to step into the unknown in the first place.
Take a moment to step back into a time when you were absolutely terrified to step into something new and different. Perhaps it was a breakup or a job that you absolutely hated. At its best, it was comfortable and familiar. So much so, it was so predictable that you could practically do it with your eyes closed. Only you absolutely hated it. You literally despised everything about it that made you feel comfortable. Although the very thought of entering into something new and different, scared the everlasting sh** out of you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was something that absolutely had to be done.
Apprehensively you blindly stepped into something new, in spite of the fear that threatened to keep you in a state of stagnation. Interestingly the very thing that you once feared immensely, evolved into one of the absolute best things that could’ve happened to you. So as you recoil from resting in the fear of the unknown, remember that growth exists on the other side of your comfort zone.
Mindfulness: Getting Comfortable with being Uncomfortable
In life, there are things that bring us joy, and those that cause us heartache, pain, and discomfort. If given the option, absolutely no one would willingly subject themselves to any degree of emotional or physical discomfort. However, that is not how life works. Anytime you seek to invite something new into your experience, there will be some degree of fear and apprehension.
The greater the distance between where you currently are and where you desire to be the more fear you will experience. Unlike physical pain, you can’t just completely avoid coming into contact with what physically brings you discomfort.
Interestingly what we affectionally refer to as our comfort zone, was once a space that literally scared the daylights out of us. When faced with the dilemma of staying in an uninspiring space that leaves you in a state of monotony, you have the power of choice to preserve in spite of fear. The truth is whenever you set out to do anything different there will be some degree of fear that threatens to stop you in your tracks. However, the key is to hold on and remain steadfast to the drive that inspired you to venture out in the first place.
Thankfully everything is impermanent, meaning that nothing stays the same. Essentially the more you lean into the very thing that causes you discomfort, the less it will be an issue. In this same manner, the very thing that makes you grimace in the face of discomfort can just as easily be your new comfort zone in just a few short weeks to months. Hindsight is 20/20. Whenever you need a gentle reminder of the impermanence of fear, just reflect back to a time when what you have now was but a distant dream that seemed right outside of your reach.
4 Ways to Use Mindfulness to Overcome Fear
1. Pause and Breathe
Whenever you find yourself in a downward spiral of thoughts that have you reveling in a state of the worst possible things that could happen, take a moment to pause, and breathe for as much time as it takes to disrupt the cycle of low vibrational thoughts.
The pause allows you to observe what is occurring on a moment-by-moment basis, and the breath allows you to extract your attention from the future and onto the present moment.
2. Revisit your Intention
Whenever we find ourselves caught up in the flow of emotions that emerge out of fear, it can cause us to lose sight of the very intention that inspired us to venture out in the first place. Revisiting our intention supports us to reconnect ourselves with our why.
3. Shift your Approach
Practicing mindfulness pushes us to unlearn a lot of what we have been taught. As a collective, a large majority of us tend to subvert our attention to the absolute worst-case scenario. Interestingly where your attention goes your energy flows, meaning if you focus on the negative it draws in more of the same. Therefore, shifting your approach from the worst to the vast possibilities that exist beyond the discomfort, supports you to bring it into manifestation.
4. Lean into Grace
Habit patterns are forged over time, meaning you cannot change engrained habits overnight. In other words, leaning into and adopting new habits takes time. You may cycle through these steps and find that you have to repetitively go through the discomfort of the process. Regardless of how long it takes, be gracious with yourself. Everything new will cause some degree of discomfort, so have grace and go easy on yourself.