Tag Archives: fear

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I’ve just had something serendipitous happen!

I get a texted daily meditation from a good friend of mine, who is also a New Thought/program person.  The other day she quoted Ernest Holmes and I loved the quote so much I asked her where she got it.  She said “365 Days of Richer Living.”  It is the daily inspiration book created from Holme’s writings.

I wanted to investigate this quote, because it so happens that Face Everything And Recover is my motto in sobriety.  See, I was paralyzed with fear when I first got sober.  I couldn’t drive in the snow, couldn’t talk, couldn’t do much of anything.  Fear was an overwhelming presence that took over my life.  And until I began working the steps, that presence had a lot of power.  The good news is that with each step, more of the fear went away.  By the time I got to steps 10 and 11, I was basically living a fearless life.

So....I went to investigate the quote, and discovered that the passage was written on my sobriety birthday, November 27.  Isn’t that cool?!?!?!?!

I love things like that!  They tell me that I’m on the right track.  They reaffirm my faith.

Here is the meditation, copied in its entirety, from “365 Days of Richer Living” by Ernest Holmes:

“TODAY my heart is without fear, for I have implicit confidence in the good, the enduring and the true. Fear is the only thing of which to be afraid. It is not the host encamped against us, nor the confusion around us, that we need to fear; it is the lack of confidence in the good alone which should concern us. Through inner spiritual vision, we know that evil is transitory, but good is permanent. We know that right finally dissolves everything opposed to it. The power of Spirit is supreme over every antagonist. Therefore, we should cherish no fear, and when we neither fear nor hate, we come to understand the unity of life. I put my whole trust in God. I know that the Spirit will gently lead me and wisely counsel me. I know that the love which envelops everything flows through me to everyone, and with it there goes a confidence, a sense of joy and freedom, a buoyant enthusiasm for living, a zest for life. “For all thy ways are ways of pleasantness, and all thy paths are peace.” I realize that fear is not Godlike, since it contradicts the divine presence, repudiates limitless love and denies infinite good. Therefore, I know that fear is a lie, a fraud. It is neither person, place nor thing; it is merely an impostor that I have believed in. I have entertained it so long that it seems as if it really were something, and it attempts to make me believe that two and two are seven, that the earth is flat and that God is limited. Today I repudiate all fear. I renounce the belief in evil. I enter into conscious union with the Spirit. I accept the good as supreme, positive and absolute. With joy I enter into the activities of the day, without regret I remember the events of yesterday, and with confidence I look forward to tomorrow, for today my heart is without fear.”

I hope you enjoy this little serendipitous moment as much as I have.

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KAL_9171

I was speaking with someone the other day who said to me, "You don't have much fear do you?"

My response was that no, I no longer have a lot of fear.  I'm not speaking to the kinds of fear that keep us from touching a hot stove.  I'm speaking to the kinds of fear that limit us.  I'm sure you are familiar with them.  The ones that say "I'm not doing THAT!" or "I'm not going THERE!"  Even though a part of you is nudging and saying, "YES....DO THAT!  YES....GO THERE!"

When I first began this new way of life in recovery, I was literally afraid of everything.  Almost paralyzed with fear.  I couldn't drive, couldn't hold down a job, couldn't carry on a conversation with people.  Hugs were threats, and life was one big "I can't."

I didn't like that limitation, and some part of me knew it was self imposed, but at the time I didn't know how to move beyond that kind of fear.

Geneen Roth speaks to this fear, and its antidote, when she says, "Compulsion is a state of isolation, one that includes self-absorption, invulnerability, low self-esteem, unpredictability and fear that if we faced our pain, it would destroy us.  Love expands, compulsion diminishes."

I didn't know that love expanded and compulsion diminished when I got into recovery.  What I did know was that with each step I worked, more of my fear went away.

And I did not know at the time that both Ernest Holmes and much of 12 step literature promises that fear will go away.

Holmes says that "perfect love casts out fear and joy transmutes sadness into song."  He also says, "all power is from within, and as the deep within is awakened, weakness, fear and failure disappear."

He also says that what we are really afraid of is social and economic insecurity, and in the textbook of Alcoholics Anonymous, it promises us that after working steps 1-10 that "fear of economic insecurity will leave us."

Every day I get more and more evidence that working these steps is the most powerful way I know of to release our fears.

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KAL_1206paintedforweb

One of the biggest barriers to freedom in life is the inability to get along with others, especially in the long term.  Steps 8 and 9 (with help from 4 and 5) can be of great value in terms of our ability to get along with others and have successful relationships.

The key in all the self reflection, and all the inner searching, is the "our part."  For it is only when we can honestly (and without blame) look at our part that any healing can happen, and it is only when our own healing happens that we can successfully navigate the twists and turns of relationships.  And experience personal freedom and happiness. ...continue reading →