We live in a world where fear has become so prevalent that it’s measured by “threat levels”! Many people stockpile goods, watch the news religiously and curtail their activities out of fear.
Actually, we are a species programmed biologically to experience the feeling of fear. Our fear network starts in the brain stem called the reptilian brain, which holds instinctual fears. This is the seat of the flight or fight response. Unfortunately, the reptilian brain is incapable of advanced thought. It responds without giving thought to the perceived fear.
The second area for fear is in the mammalian brain which houses the amygdala; our storage center for emotions, particularly the scary ones. The amygdala connects to the endocrine glands, which can release the survival hormones of adrenaline and cortisal. These hormones are associated with the physical effects of fear such as a faster heart rate, high blood pressure and nervousness.
When our brains were developing these networks were valuable. Now, for most of us, more commonplace fears like taxes or too many bills have replaced the actual physical threat to survival.
Fortunately, we have also developed the neocortex which is capable of reasoning, long term memory storage and houses what we call “spirit”. And this is our saving grace. Because spirit, in the end, is what can lead us from fear into a state of grace.
It been said that we only have two real emotions—fear and love. Fear comes from our reptilian brain stem to warn of danger. And love comes from our neocortex where we connect to spirit.
So how do we overcome both our real and our imagined fears? Through that state of grace brought about by love, particularly love expressed through gratitude.
When we enter into a state of gratefulness we cannot experience fear. Our brains cannot feel two opposing states at the same moment. Go ahead and try it---try to feel anger and joy together. It’s impossible.
According to recent studies, the very act of expressing gratitude can have a multitude of positive effects in your life. Participants who kept gratitude journals reported feeing better about themselves, about their lives, progressed more toward their goals, and had more energy, enthusiasm and alertness.
Other benefits of expressing gratitude are feeling more positive with reduced levels of stress and depression.
At the Positive Psychology Conference last fall, Joh Haidt, reported on one of his students who wrote of her blessings for 2 minutes each morning in her gratitude journal. She experienced more blessings, a positive mood shift and less negative feelings throughout the eight weeks of the project.
You might be asking how you can feel gratitude when facing a fearful situation. What we forget is that in every situation we have the choice of how we’re going to perceive the event and respond to it. Our life is a journey of experiences to lead us back to Spirit. In each of these experiences is an inherent lesson. Once we master the lesson, the fearful event fades away.
Our job in facing life’s challenges is to look for the lesson, express gratitude that you have the opportunity to learn from it and then move on to the next one.
So the next time you’re experiencing fear, tell your mind to Stop! and begin to count your blessings. Even better, start a Gratitude Journal, write in it every day and notice how your fears diminish and your life takes on a “state of grace”.
To discover more ways to conquer fear and remove it as an issue from your life, go to http://www.debrafentress.com/
Debra has a background in Psychology, is a Published Author, Master Trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Master Practitioner of Time Line Therapy™, Certified Hypnotherapist, and Certified Spiritual Counselor. She is involved yearly with the International Hypnosis Federation conference.
As a lifelong student of personal growth, Debra studied with Hank Wesselman (author of Spiritwalker), with Helen Bangs as early as 1972 and was a lead trainer for Advanced Neuro Dynamics, an international training company as well as head of their Sales and Customer Relations. In her commitment to "giving back to the Universe", Debra has donated her time by working in special Education for children, as a trainer and board member for the Red Cross, done mediating between city and school officials, provided workshops for female parolees to increase their self confidence, improve their appearance and job interviewing skills, volunteered for the blind and continues to this day to provide assistance where needed for women and children leaving abusive situations.
As a trainer, Debra is known for leading seminars which not only impart information to the student, but also give the student the experiential component needed to take the information outside of the seminar setting.
As a Spiritual Counselor, she approaches each person from their model of the world to assist them in illuminating the shadow self thereby finding the path to Spirit.
NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to debra@debrafentress.com
Disclaimer: The information presented and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of ArticlePros.com and/or its partners.
