I'm loving the wonderful images, posts and comments of those of you who are engaging fully in the Forum - thank you for supporting this, and well done!
This week's topic will hopefully see a few more step up to the plate and join in the fun...
PHOTO: Hiding I can't wait to see what comes forth from this :). Are you hiding? What are you hiding from? Maybe someone or something else is hiding? Have fun with this one! JOURNAL PROMPT: Fear F.E.A.R. - False Evidence Appearing Real.
Unless we are in a life-threatening situation, most of our fear is ungrounded and totally in our mind. But it can be so hard to push through it to the other side. Why is that? Why do we make it so hard for ourselves? What is something you're afraid to do? What's challenging you at the moment, and what's holding you back from doing it?
Does this quote resonate with you:
"The fears we don't face become our limits." - Jim Kwik.
Think back to a past time that challenged you, that you were in fear over...did you push through? What was the outcome? How did you feel?
Please share something you have fear around at the moment, and how you think you can overcome it. REMEMBER - post your image first and your wording second.
I knew immediately what photo I was going to post and then was really triggered by it. Its taken me 3 weeks to come to the point of posting it.🙄 🤣
I have known for a long time that I have been hiding and over the last couple of years have been working on it. In fact there has been some incredible shifts that have happened for me just in the last few weeks alone not to mention the last few years, and it all has in part to do with me no longer hiding any more. No longer wasting my talents and playing small.
The fear.... its a common one and still very big and menacing for so many of us. Its about showing up as who we truly are and speaking our truth! Acting in our truth! Being in our truth! I know it stems from my childhood and past lives and feeling the judgment and persecution of having different beliefs from mainstream society. I also know this is one of the big lessons I chose to work on in this lifetime and that I am here at this time because my gifts are needed and hiding them is not helpful or being in service to humanity for which I am really here to be.
What was stopping me? Huge fear of rejection and judgement, of not being accepted. I have learned my saboteurs (areas of self sabotage) are, people pleaser and an avoider....I have owned my own business for 20 years as a massage therapist and because I was so reliant on the money and keeping my clients I would conform so they would "not be offended" or "challenged" by what I knew was the root causes to their problems, but what mainstream believes is whoo whoo and I was afraid they wouldn't come back or worse not come back and then go and tell all their friends. I lived in a village where word travels. So I stayed hidden until is was so uncomfortable that I sunk into a depression. Everything in my soul was saying I needed to start living my purpose.
How have I overcome it? A journey of self love and self acceptance! The critic in my head gets cut off very quickly now. When I start to hear the nagging voice in my head tell me I am not good enough or starts to criticise my actions, I immediately stop it and tell myself I am doing the best I can. I am feeling into what I need at that moment and allowing myself to have it. It turns out I needed more Netflix time than I thought I did and that is ok. I have also been going to women's circles and healers to support me in shifting the deeply rooted trauma from my body and meditating and listening and learning how to allow myself to find the joy and fun and beauty and appreciate my life in all its contrasts!
HIDDEN
I love finding surprises hidden in my garden (I admit this was an older photo, but the photo of my dog and I hiding from the rain didn't turn out) Plus when I first read the theme I thought of bugs hiding in my garden!
FEAR
My current fear has been plaguing me for a long time now, it's the fear of being alone forever and never finding love. The longer I am alone the more the fear grows that I am unlovable, or that I am too fat, I am too 'fringe', too old, too picky, or worse I am undeserving.
I'm scared to want love too much lest I appear desperate, I swing between Tinder dating marathons and vows to leave it up to the universe.
It's a challenge to stay positive, to quieten the negative and often very mean comments from former lovers. Each comment is played over like a broken record a thousand times reinforcing my fears and eating away at my confidence so that I can barely utter an intelligible word around any guy I might like.
I keep trying to be positive, to believe things will happen in divine order, but some days my affirmations echo hollow. I know I must persevere and believe in myself, resilience has gotten me through so much in life. Someone once described me as a little bulldozer that keeps getting back up. So every day I try and have hope.
Lou Lou was trying to hide but I caught her out 😹
FEAR: My current fear is getting my book (memoir) out into the world. I don't want people to think it's crap. I've put 10 long years into it and I feel it's still far from ready for the general public, although I am about to send it out to my family so that's scary enough in itself! I fear the push back from past partners who are in the book, one in particular who features heavily in the last third...I know he'll pick out the 2 not so good bits I wrote about his behaviour and completely ignore the many amazing points I wrote about him. Plus, I'm revealing a huge skeleton in the family closet...my siblings know about it, but their children don't...they will find out about it when they read it. eeeek! How can I overcome this fear? Just do it - like I always do! 🏵️
So blessed to hear about your journey and how it has come to fruition. If anyone has met Melissa, you can feel the positive energy, warmth and compassion ooze out of her. A beautiful Soul on a wonderful journey xxx
The photo above is of my 10yr old fur baby Nera. She was rescued by SPCA as a young kitten and then we adopted her at 8weeks old. She feels the safest snuggled up in her igloo, or hiding in the grasses in our garden.
I think the most fear I faced would have been in the past 18 months to do with the uncertainty around our livelihoods, health, family and friendships. The media and social media certainly played a massive role in the fear mongering. I lost many hours of sleep worrying about the unknown and the what if's. Shedding lots of tears and voicing my concerns to loved ones about these, helped a little but the fear was still lurking.
What got me through the fear? Coming back to my faith and having a deeper relationship with God. One day I just happened to come across a Facebook live of a Pastor in England who was speaking of all the things I was searching for. He had only come into faith 3 years ago after an attempt at suicide. His story spoke deeply to me and the words of God that he proclaimed moved in me so much that I had a physical and spiritual awakening. I felt the past curses and demons exit my life and with that they took the fear, uncertainty, pain, sorrow and negativity with it. I have never felt so free. God's Love defeats all fear.