Changing Fear into ExcitementWritten by Ted Schredd
Fear scares people. That’s what it’s supposed to do; it’s just a matter of how much and how often do we really need to be scared? Basically, there are two kinds of fear. Real fear allows you to save your butt in challenging situations (like being chased by a predator or facing imminent danger). Then there are imagined fears-which hold you back from experiencing life. Imagined fears may come from a previous unpleasant experience, other people’s fears or bad information. The way your brain sees it there is no difference between an imaginary fear and a real one. Fear can provide stress and physical anxiety as you prepare for new experiences. It can cause you to lack good judgment or to do irrational things. Chicken-heartedness can turn into terror and complete immobilization. Or you can change your panic into an exciting edge when stepping out of your comfort zone. What’s scary for some is sheer delight for others. Confronting your fears will give you an incredible sense of satisfaction and confidence. Your happiness is directly related to whether fear runs your activity schedule or your courage does. In a modern world, fear has minimal uses, especially if perceived concern has no basis in reality. When you are full of fear, you end up worrying about events that will never even happen. We worry about environment, safety of neighborhood or world peace. We worry about murderers, terrorists and stock markets. Some people call it worrying; others call it being realistic. But worrying is a waste of time; it has never paid a single bill nor stopped a hurricane. If situation or problem can be remedied, there is no point worrying about it. If there is nothing you can do about your problems, there is no point worrying either. Think about fears and worries in your life and how they affect your fun level. You don’t have to deny your fears, just question if they’re truly looking out for your best interests. Are you focusing on what could go wrong instead of what could go right? So many people are consumed by worry, hoping that one day their lives will get better, as another day slips away. Instead of seeing worst-case scenario in your mind, see best-case scenario. Become what motivational speaker Brian Tracey calls an inverse paranoid. Become convinced that there are hundreds of people waiting around every corner to show you some form of fun or pleasure. Become paranoid that world is out to do you good. Now, fun people do not deny their fears. Are they scared when they face their fears? You bet, but devoted delight detectors make it a habit of facing their fears instead of tucking their tails behind their legs and hiding under bed. They change their fears from a debilitating annoyance into waves of adrenaline and excitement. When you face your fears, whether you succeed or not, you are a winner. You are a winner because you have chosen to be motivated by your passion for living and not by fear. The way to counteract your fears and worries is to gain knowledge, which gives you courage. Use wisdom, not worries, when traipsing out into world. If you were to head out hiking in mountains, would you worry that you could fall off a cliff, become lost, get eaten by a bear or get hit by an avalanche? These are all possible scenarios, but only remotely possible. The more you worry about it, more likely you are to create it. If you stay away from cliffs, take a map and a compass, avoid taping salmon to your body and stay out of avalanche zones, you’ll be fine. We do so many dangerous things in our everyday lives and yet we worry about a little adventure. What about crossing street? Do you see yourself getting pegged by a bus? Of course you don’t. So when we consider new or unknown activities, why do we create such terrible visions? Chances for a major injury are much greater crossing a busy street than traipsing in mountains. If something does happen while you’re enjoying world, at least you’re living! Watching TV and eating potato chips may be safe but you will get fat and it’s boring.
| | Choose To Be HappyWritten by Selena Richardson
What if I told you that you have ability to decide if you are happy or not. You would probably say that I'm crazy. 1. I'm not crazy and 2. Happiness is a choice.You can't depend on someone else to make you happy. That is a lesson I learned early on in my marriage. I realized that I couldn't rely on my husband as my source of happiness. I learned that my happiness depended on me and not my husband's actions. I learned that you have to choose to be happy. You can choose your emotions. True happiness comes from within, it can't be forced by outside forces. So how do you choose happiness? The same away you choose to smile or choose to wear a certain outfit. You choose it because that's what you want to experience in your life. You want to buy a new pair of shoes so you choose a pair that you like and feels good. You wouldn't buy a pair of shoes that you don't like or that don't fit well, right? So why do we keep choosing emotions and feelings that don't make us feel good? Well most people don't realize that you can choose feeling happy over feeling angry or upset about something. It's not wrong to feel angry or upset but dwelling on it and letting anger simmer for too long can have bad results. Choosing to be happy after you realize your anger has shown up (or even choosing to be calm) can be beneficial. You end up acknowledging your anger and moving on instead of harboring those emotions until there's a flare up. We choose our feelings, no one can do that for us. If we let others get to us, influence our emotions - we are giving them power over us. When others cause us anger or pain, we are giving them our power.
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