303 ~ Holding Fear's Hand: A Guide for Feeling Fear with Courage

Hello Magical Human & welcome back to Madison Mindset the Podcast 🧚🏼

Listen to this episode when you are feeling fear... you are supported.

This is an episode of love, support and encouragement. Let this episode hold your hand as you step forward in your journey...

For a deeper exploration of working with fear, join me on Patreon. The podcast subscription includes a 10-minute journaling practice, while the Magical Mindset coaching subscription adds a video on moving fear through the body and befriending it.

I encourage you to go deeper...

You are held

Love,

Madison Mindset x

Chapters

• 0:09 Welcome to Madison Mindset
• 1:08 Fear as Beautiful Protection
• 3:09 Important Things That Scare Us
• 5:19 Feeling Fear and Doing It Anyway
• 8:10 Hold Fear Close as a Friend
• 11:04 Closing and Patreon Resources

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Hello Magical Human and welcome back to Madison Mindset, the podcast. In this episode, I want you to simply listen, whether you're feeling fear of some sort right now or not, whether it's in a form of anxiety, worry or stress, any kind of fear that you may be experiencing. Whether you're feeling that right now or not, I want you to allow this episode to be nurturing, to support you, and I encourage you to send it to someone who needs it, anyone in your life who perhaps is within that fear right now and could use this episode for support. I encourage you to send it on to them, because this is going to be a nourishing conversation for you. Just simple words that you get to listen to. That will support you in this energy.

Speaker 1: 1:08

Fear is actually a really beautiful thing. Fear is your body's way of trying to protect you. It's your system's way of protection. It's a part of you that might feel like something could go wrong or something will go wrong, or something's really scary or something's overwhelming. I can't do it, or whatever. The reason is something's going to be painful, something's going to be hard. It's your body's way of trying to tell you you don't have to do it. It's your body's way of going, let's not do it. It's self-protection, is a form of self-protection, because if it sends this signal of fear to you and gives you a few reasons as to why you might need to be scared, then there's a chance that you might not do it, which means you've just saved yourself from whatever it is maybe the fear of embarrassment or a mistake you may have made, or from pain or from whatever it is.

Speaker 1: 2:20

But we all know that sometimes the things that you need to do the most are the most scary things to do. For example, going to a doctor to get a diagnosis, public speaking, telling someone how you really feel, putting your creation or art out into the world, doing something new, doing something that may bring pain, whether it's physical or mental pain. We know that sometimes those things are exactly what you need to do. You know what if it's a medical test that may bring pain? You know what if it's a conversation that you fear may make the other person upset? You're feeling this fear because something is important. Something is important, and the most important thing for you to do is to identify what that is. You may be scared of a medical test or of a conversation, or of something that's something you've never done before, something that's pushing your boundary of what you think is possible for you. You may be struggling with that, but what is that highlighting what is important there there? What's important there Is there your health, your high quality relationships, your growth as a human being. Is it your? What kind of self-protection is it? It's important to reflect on this because fear is a protection form for you.

Speaker 1: 4:06

Don't go and get that test done. Don't step outside your comfort zone. Don't have that conversation. Don't check your bank account. It's protection and sometimes that's really helpful. Don't walk down that dark alley. Don't go and talk to strangers by yourself, you know. Don't drive a car when you're really tired.

Speaker 1: 4:30

You know there's parts of this system that are really intelligent, that are going to stop you from doing silly things, that are going to keep you safe. But the trouble with this system is it doesn't have much of a filter. It doesn't really care if what you're trying to do is good for you or bad for you, necessary or unnecessary. Sometimes you have to do the thing you're scared of doing and even though you could put it off and never do it, there'll be other consequences. What kind of consequences could you feel if you don't go and get a medical test done for fear of finding out a diagnosis.

Speaker 1: 5:08

How does that help you? You get in your own way? How does it help you to not have tough conversations with your partner or with your friends? How does that nourish the relationship it's actually taking away from it? How does it help you to never share your art or creations or writing with the world? How does it help you to never ask for a raise? How does it help you to never go for the big things in life? How does it help you to not check your bank account? We don't check our bank account because we're scared that there's not enough there. Not checking it doesn't help. So sometimes that fear will be there because there's something scary, there's something notable that's going to happen, there's something that's going to push the boundaries of you, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Instead of trying to get rid of your fear, nourish it.

Speaker 1: 6:15

Understand that fear is your body, trying to protect you and it's sending this message to you, to make you scared, to pay attention, to notice. Through fear you can really understand what's important, understand the big things in life, prepare for them well and step forward. Anyway. You know people who are super brave or courageous. You might look at them and think, wow, I wish I could be as brave as them, but they, they had fear. Everyone has fear.

Speaker 1: 6:41

The difference is feeling that fear, understanding that you're scared to go to the doctor, that you're scared to open your bank account, that you're scared to submit a book that you wrote in case you're dismissed or not wanted, you know, scared to tell someone that you love them, scared to whatever it is to have a baby or whatever it is that scares you. It's feeling that fear and doing it anyway. It's feeling that fear acknowledging it, but not allowing it to control you, not allowing that fear to change how you're going to interact with this world, not allowing that fear to stop you, because sometimes you have to step forward anyway. When you get scared, you're basically just nudging the outside of your comfort zone. You're basically just nudging the outside of your comfort zone. Something is going to require more effort, more attention, more learning, more bravery, but you are. Everyone is brave in the moments where they need to be. You can do it. You will show up. Have faith in yourself.

Speaker 1: 8:00

Don't try and get rid of your fear. Understand that it is you trying to protect you. It's a beautiful thing. It's acknowledgement of something big. It's your mind thinking something could go wrong here, and maybe it will, or maybe it won't. Either way, you will learn, you will grow and it'll be the way that it needs to be. So, instead of pushing that fear away, hold that fear close as a friend. Don't push fear away. Hold fear's hand. Understand the risks.

Speaker 1: 8:36

Understand why there might be reasons to be scared, to be cautious, to tread lightly, but understand why you're scared. If it's fear of a medical diagnosis, understand that not finding out and finding out doesn't change anything. It simply stops your ability to have any control over what happens, to fix anything, to do your part in your healing. So be very logical. Feel fear. Why is fear there? Oh, because this might confirm that something is wrong or that I'm not good at public speaking, or that, whatever it is. Understand it's there for a reason. It's highlighting a need, a cause, something. Understand what that is. Look into it. Why is it there? What are you trying to protect me, but if you decide you have to go forward, you don't have to walk through a dark alley at night and you don't have to talk to strangers by yourself. But if it's something that you have to go through with.

Speaker 1: 9:42

Know that that's a normal part of life to face challenges, to find courage in the moments that you didn't think it was possible to have any. To step forward anyway and do it. And you know, most of the time it won't be as bad as you thought. Most of the time, fear makes up a big story and it's never as bad as it's played out to be. This is part of life. We're here to be challenged, we're here to be pushed. We're here to experience pain and to find peace through it. It's unavoidable. You can do it. You have amazing amounts of courage, a lot of which may be completely untapped, but it is there. The proof that other people can be so brave is proof that you can be brave too. So give yourself that opportunity. Step up, show up. I know you can. When you ask anyone else in your life, I bet they'd say the same thing that you are brave and you can do it. Thank you for being here, magical Human. I appreciate you. You can do it.

Speaker 1: 11:07

There is a practice version available for you of this episode. On Patreon, on the podcast subscription, you will find a beautiful 10-minute journaling practice that you can go and listen to and take this a little bit deeper. On the Magical Mindset subscription, which is the coaching version of the podcast subscription, you will find again that same journaling practice with a coaching video based around fear. We're going to go through some practices together of how you can move fear through the body and start to really befriend fear. So if you'd like to go deeper into the how that is your opportunity, drop into the show notes, jump over to Patreon and join me in that space. I appreciate you, I believe in you, have faith, love, thank you.