This is a critical bit to understand and to reel in if you want to conquer fear and blast out an exciting life, living fully and joyfully!
Most, if not all, fear is of the unknown or loss and what it might do to us, mostly we perceive it as a what it will take from us. In survival circumstances, this is of great value, you venture off the path too far and you'll get eaten. In today's world consequences are muted, less about life and death, and more about bumps in the road. Let's open the hood on this subject and get a handle on how to work through it.
Now, I have to bring about a topic that I don't hear much of the world of 4x4's and that is meditation. I know, if you are not familiar with this it can sound wonky, but hear me out. What I mean by meditation is just sitting calmly, noticing your breathing and watching your thoughts. Noticing what thoughts come up and letting them go by. It's pretty simple, give yourself permission to just sit and let the mind wander, then notice your breathing again. What does this have to do with the unknown?!
When we are looking into the unknown our thoughts will work on creating a picture of what will happen when we head into the unknown, like a crystal ball. However this crystal ball is broken and it will show you scary things that will make you avoid the unknown. The key to heading into the unknown is becoming aware of what your thoughts are and if they are filling you with fear, it is time to replace them with wonder and excitement!
This is likely happening to you in some way in some area of your life. If you are an avid 4-wheeler and live fearlessly behind the wheel, you may think "I don't understand, I'm not afraid of anything...." Well, lets look at an area of your life you are not so excited about. For a lot of people it's going to be health, fitness, relationships, financial, career... If I haven't hit one yet then you're better off then most. Whatever it is, there is likely a step you want to take to move forward and improve, however you are holding off and you likely have a great justification for why. This will convert your fear into "rational decisions" and leave you feeling ok about it so you don't have to be uncomfortable.
Next let's take two situations side by side: one where you don't know what is going to happen but you are excited to find out, and one where you don't know what is going to happen and you are afraid to find out. Take some time to think about each situation and see how those thoughts are different. In the first, where you are excited to see what happens your mind is filling the unknown awesome things. In the second situation your mind is filling the unknown with scary things, stuff that you will not enjoy, that will make your life terrible.
To be successful in anything you will have to take a leap into the unknown and find your way. The key is watching for those thoughts of fear about the unknown, then realizing that it will be exciting to see where that trail leads and enjoy the ride, or like I did, feel scared and carry on with it anyway! Know what you need to do and do it!
When it came to telling my boss that I want to be promoted to the next level of leadership it was scary and the first two times I tried to do it I stared into the unknown and ran! Then I finally gathered the courage to do it and as soon as I had explained what I wanted the fear had left and great conversation followed. A conversation that in time will lead to getting the results I want.
MetaphorX4
When I think about heading out to a new trail I get excited and start wonder what obstacles I'll conquer, or what views I'll see, or where the trail will lead. I'm genuinely interested in heading into this unknown like a pioneer explorer. So when you look at an area of your life you want to have more joy and excitement in and you see the unknown lurking, think about it like a new trail to explore!
