And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

~ Anais Nin

I don’t know about you, but any time I start something new this creepy feeling of fear kicks in and I don’t like it. It’s time to overcome it in a big way. Fear is just a false perception, it has absolutely no base in reality. It’s just a figment of our imagination. Just like the boogie man who lives under the bed. Fear means False Evidence Appearing Real.

But why does it feel so real?

Fear is rooted in so many false beliefs. Fear of sucking, fear of being rejected, fear of looking like a fool, fear of not being liked or ridiculed, fear of not being qualified, fear of failure, fear of success and I am sure there are many more that I am not even mentioning. All these fears keep us in bondage, imprisoned in our lives and all the while they are depleting the very life force out of us, diminishing our light.

Whether we are an artist, writer, dancer, musician, teacher or comedian, allowing ourself to come out of the closet can be a scary thing. We are exposed for the whole world to see, cellulite, warts, zits and all. This can make us feel vulnerable, transparent and exposed for the whole world to see.

We keep ourselves stuck in thinking we are not enough. We believe we don’t have enough experience, knowledge or training. In most cases these are all lies we tell ourselves to keep us in bondage to our limiting thoughts and belief systems.

We keep entertaining these postponing techniques to keep us from ever making a move towards our dreams and desires.

What if they don’t like us, what if we are criticized or judged?

Who cares!

The only thing that is getting offended is the ego and we don’t need it anyway. We don’t need to be liked. We don’t need the approval of others, the emotional support or the social ‘likes’. We only need our own approval, our own Self acceptance and our own Self love.

Our ego has four identities or aspects to it. They are masks that we wear and show to the world.

Mamakaara is how we feel about our self.  Usually, it is lower than what we are.

Ahamkaara is what we project out into the world to cover up the Mamakaara and this is usually higher than what we are at the moment.

Swa-Anyakaara is how we see others and life.

Anyakaara is how others see us.

When one or all of these are out of alignment, we are not living in reality. We are living in a false reality which is based in an illusionary aspect of our self. The best and quickest way to bring all of these in alignment is to work on the Mamakaara, how we feel about our self. Raise our self to who we really are, a unique being. There is no one out there that is exactly like you. No one has the special, unique talents and abilities that you have. The world needs your gifts, your expressions, and your imprint on humanity to make a difference.

If we feel there is too much competition out there and there are too many people sharing a similar message, take into consideration there are billions of people out there and even if we reach out and inspire just one soul our job is done. We came here to do what we are meant to do and that is to serve others.

The only competition we are facing is with our self, our own inner critic that can be our own worst enemy.

No one can express and share what we have to say the way we have to say it or sing it.

Not expressing our self feels like betrayal of the Self. We know deep down inside we are lying to our self and others.We  are not living an authentic life. This is spiritual suicide. The pain of not using our unrecognized potential becomes too great to bear.

If we want to grow and expand we have to face our fears, face the boogie man under the bed. Be willing to be vulnerable and naked in front of the whole world. Having the courage to really be ourselves and letting our light shine no matter what. Finding our unique voice. Be willing to show our  ‘dark side’ to others. Our pain, struggles and so called perceived failures can all help someone out who is going through the very same exact thing we just survived. When we shine, we silently give others the permission to radiate their uniqueness as well.

Whenever we first start something we feel like we are not ready because we don’t have years of experience. But we all have to start somewhere.

If we focus on excuses as to why it is not the right time we will only attract more and more reasons as to why we cannot start now.

The more we stay in our comfort zone, the more we contract and shrink in life. When we shrink we stunt our growth and stifle our creativity.

We all have the choice to either shrink and constrict or expand.

Expansion involves taking risks and being willing to feel like a fraud in the beginning. Everyone has to start somewhere. Even all the great masters and big influential personalities of our times had to overcome fear, failure, rejections and obstacles on their path. Great beings are not born they are made.

We need to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. This is how we flourish. No doubt there will be growing pains but we can surpass them just by taking continuous action.

Don’t waste time in just dreaming about it; start taking action regardless of the outcome. We have to keep going and not give up on our self. Stop sitting on the sidelines and letting life pass by, jump in the game and start playing.

I am changing the phrase “fake it until you make it” to “conscious faking it until we make it.”

We need to stop believing all the self-limiting lies we have been telling ourselves and tap into our true being.

Enjoy the process and journey as we learn something new. Allow time to get past the learning curve. This is the only way self-confidence is built. By putting one foot in front of the other. Look at this experience as an adventure. An adventure deep into your Soul’s capacity and brilliance.

Be brave and be willing to be like the ‘fool’ in the tarot deck and leap into the unknown.

He represents a new beginning, spontaneity and innocence. The depiction in the card is of a young man stepping off of a cliff into the unknown and unforeseen escape with all its risky undertakings.

The fool can be depicted as being foolish and naive but in my opinion he is one of the best cards. He shows the highest potential for your life, reaching a state of renewal and new beginnings, where each day is adventure and each moment is lived to the fullest.

So go ahead and step off the ledge. We just may be surprised we do know how to fly. Our soul is yearning to create and express itself. When we step into our being, Cosmos expresses itself through our creativity and then magic happens.

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Assistant Ed: Kristina Peterson / Ed: Catherine Monkman