From Fear to Faith – in three simple steps?

If only.  😊

Ok, so the steps may be simple.  Are they always easy?  I’ll let you answer that one.  😊

Over this past month in our Prayers for Peace, the theme has been Freedom to Choose.  In really listening within as each meditation was shared, what came to the surface was this choice that we make – to Fear or to consciously have Faith.

And then, as my logical brain started to smile, I realised that for me there are the following aspects of Faith that can help us live a joy-filled, confident life:

• Faith in who we are

• Faith in others

• Faith in Life itself

• Faith in Spirit

As I was about to begin writing this article, another thought came into my mind – as if by magic.  😊

What if a lot of this is about Expectations?  How much of our life do we live based on expectations?  

1. Faith in who we are

Why not start with the most important person?

When we begin to look deeper into when we have Faith in who we are, from my own experience, this often translates as a form of confidence in being who we truly are, with no need to try to hide or pretend.  Simply to be.  To be aligned within in terms of our beliefs, thoughts, emotions, words, and actions - these are all choices that we make. 

And where each of these is aligned with our soul, with that knowing within of our essence.

When I am consciously aware of the desire to be aligned, I expect myself to express who I am in a certain way, not because it is required by anyone else but because it feels right.  

However, when, for example, I hear myself saying something that is unkind, I feel annoyed or frustrated.  Quite often this will be coming from my Ego, from a sense of separation - separation from who I am and from the other person.  Rather than seeing this as something negative, I can choose to see this feeling as simply an invitation from my soul to become more aligned with my truth, and to be kind to myself as I grow on my path.

Yes, I do expect myself to grow because when I open to this, without any judgment, I feel more alive.

With the freedom to choose, I can set the intention to express myself and to live this life as aligned as possible with who I am.

Of course, when I reach the As Me stage, I would imagine that there will no longer be any need to have expectations.  Not yet there .. and no timeframe is known.  🤣

In challenging moments, there are times when my first reaction may be to feel a sense of fear – in the unknown, in a potential resulting lack, in the possible risk that this may bring.  

This fear may come from an experience where I suffered or felt hurt.  Simply acknowledging that the event was in the past can help me step back and open to the lesson that this experience was perhaps offering me to see.  

By being the observer, I can then let go of the feeling of fear, knowing that this is not who I am, it is just an expression in this human existence.  

And then, thankfully, I can remind myself that I have within me all the answers to every question and access to infinite possibilities and Divine guidance.

2. Faith in others

How much of our life do we live having expectations of how other people should be?  And when they don’t meet our expectations?  

I remember a situation that a friend described where she felt so bad when another friend of hers did not respond to her need in a way that she expected.  Her reaction was to feel annoyed, and sad that this person was not ‘there’ for her.

Going a little deeper in the conversation, what came to the surface was a fear that this friend did not really love her or appreciate her in the way that she believed she did.  And a fear of losing this friend, or the image of the friendship that she had held onto.

Initially, she had expectations of this other person, and when they were not met, she moved into a feeling of separation and distancing.  Did my friend know why the person had reacted in this way?  No.  Just assumptions based on a few words that were exchanged.

This then resulted in a conversation about whether we have Faith in others or whether we base our beliefs on individual actions or situations.

Did my friend think that her friend was a good person? 

On reflection, and listening to her heart, the answer was clear – Yes.

When she reconnected to this truth, she was able to stand back and see the situation differently.

Situations change, and therefore where our expectations of how someone may or may not show up in our lives are based on a certain pattern in the past, perhaps we can choose to open to any changes as opportunities for us to grow.

3. Faith in Life Itself

All plain sailing always?  Next joke.  🤣

When everything in our lives reflects the desires that we have or corresponds to what we envisage as ‘good’, we often feel happy, and our Faith in Life Itself can seem obvious.

We may then expect things to continue in this way ad infinitum.  Of some people may expect this not to last, just waiting for the bad to appear.  Again, there is the freedom to choose.  

And then …. 

There are those moments when this is not the case, when we are faced with challenges, and difficulties and we can feel lost or vulnerable.

Often this results in a sense of fear – of the unknown, of our own ability to manage the situation, of reliving a past situation, of losing control, of what may happen next.

In these moments I find that I need to remember to breathe, to be present, i.e. not in the past or in the future, and to accept that this situation is in my life – for a reason.  It may not be one that I would have chosen to have but when I can acknowledge that I am responsible for my life and how I live it, it is as if I am then reconnected to the power within.

When we can remind ourselves of the Truth that it is with our thoughts, our words and our feelings that we create the lives that we live, it is then that we can expect to see in our lives all that we desire.  When our expectations and knowing are high, magic appears more and more often, in wonderful, exciting ways.

We simply have Faith that this is so.

4. Faith in Spirit

As we all come from the same Source, the same God, the same Spirit, I believe that at our very centres, there is only Faith.

So, what can hold us back from opening to this Faith?

It may be that we are scared to let go, to lose control by opening up to something greater than ourselves.  Personally, I used to feel safe when I could plan, organise and see everything moving forward the way I had foreseen.  Until I realised that I had such a minute vision of all that is and that through my blinkered eyes and various filters, I was limiting the expression of who I was and the life that I was living.  

Or it may be Seeing is Believing and a belief that we need logic, visible, tangible proof for us to open up to any such power.  In our daily professional lives, this emphasis on logic is very much present and perhaps this can hold us back from opening to the Believing is Seeing.

Where I worked before, in a large international scientific organisation – I am an HR person, in case you were wondering 😊 – in the 15+ years that I worked there, I cannot remember any conversation about this except when I introduced this concept in one of my management training courses.  Just one out of the 16 participants, all physicists, engineers, financial professionals, etc. interrupted the lesson and said that this was the most thought-provoking thing he had heard, and how this could affect how he was seeing the people in his team, as well as how he saw others and situations in his life.  Perhaps it was just his time to open to this.

Holding ourselves back from Faith in Spirit may come from our beliefs, those that we have chosen and those that we have inherited or adopted.  Again, we have the freedom to choose to hold onto those beliefs or to let them do so.

For me, Faith in Spirit means that I do have expectations.  I expect that when I send up a ‘message’ to Spirit, more and more I now expect this to manifest in my life.  When I ask for Guidance, I absolutely expect this to ‘appear’ in my life.  The more I expect this to happen, the faster and easier it does.

It is as if having such expectations is an expression of my Faith, and therefore the stronger my Faith, the greater my expectations.  

If ever I start to doubt, and I am aware of this – which is not always the case 🤗- this is when I realise that I am moving away from Faith and into Fear – fear that perhaps something will not work out the way I would like.  

My next step is to see what I am doing – separating myself from who I am, letting my Ego-driven thoughts take over – can thoughts really take over?  I like to visualise and therefore in such situations, I can see it as if a part of me is moving away from my heart, away from my soul, resulting in me no longer being aligned with the Truth.  ‘All’ I have to then do is to move back to my heart, to my soul.  

To be honest, sometimes it can take a while as I may see this part of me needing time to express itself fully, to give me time to become aware of what is being said, and what is being shown.  And even more time to listen to the lesson that is being offered.  This fear that is being expressed is there for a reason, and unless and until I can acknowledge this, it has a tendency to make itself known in other situations.  😊

Suggestions:

• Gratitude – as the more we are grateful for, the more we have to be grateful for.

• Meditation – to connect to the Truth

• Journaling – to become aware of how we are expressing ourselves in this life, and to be open to Guidance

• Acts of Service – by helping others, we can connect more to Oneness

• Letting Go, Letting God.

Fear or Faith – the choice is always ours.

As a spiritual alignment coach, Linda Orr Easo helps people to reconnect with who they truly are to create the life they consciously create. Linda is a coach, consultant, trainer, Reiki Master, with over 25 years in leadership experience in large multicultural organisations. 

www.breatha.ch