Healthy vs. Unhealthy FEARS

Let me start this week by sharing a few things regarding the tool from last week.  As you recall, the 2nd part of the tool asked the question "what other treasures are you seeking on the journey of lifestyle change?"  The answers shared by everyone in group this week were just amazing and inspiring, reminding me personally of why I continue on this journey.  Here is the list of treasures:

• To strive for peace
• To try new things
• To be wholly and completely who I was created to be and take risks
• To be flexible
• To have boundaries
• To lean in toward middle ground
• To build trust in myself
• To use my voice
• To offer forgiveness
• To accept myself right where I am
• To practice honesty

I intend on keeping this list on my refrigerator as a reminder of the incredible treasures that will continue to unfold as I grow.  This conversation led us into the nugget for this week.  We talked about fear, an emotion many of us have walked in for many years.  Fear is at the core of codependency.  It can motivate us to control people or situations and to neglect ourselves. 

At some point in our lives, we may have relied on fear to protect ourselves much the way soldiers in war rely on fear to help them survive.  Many of us have been afraid for so long that we don't label our feelings as "fear" anymore and it begins to feel normal.  But now, on the journey of lifestyle change, we are choosing to live differently.  We don't have a need for that much fear anymore. We can thank our old fears for helping us survive, then kiss them goodbye!  We can welcome peace, trust, acceptance and safety into our space as we learn to listen to our rational fears while letting go of the rest.

God, help me let go of my need to be afraid and replace it with a need to be at peace.

TOOL: (There is an addition below to the tool you received in group this week)

1) What is the difference between rational and irrational fears? 

2) How can you identify them in your own life?