Embrace Fear & Shine Your Light

Do you shy away from things that make you uncomfortable? Do you hide and play small in order to avoid being seen – really seen? Do you avoid those opportunities that require you to really step up and move beyond your comfort zone?

Welcome to the world of playing small. 

Up until recently, I lived in this world for years. I really struggled to step up and play bigger.

This is a world driven by fear, by the words “I can’t” and by the need to avoid that which makes us uncomfortable. It is ruled by safety, security and the need to gain love from the external world. It is limiting and disempowering.

 

Where In Your Life Are You Playing Small?

For me, it was not in all areas. After all, I had taken some huge steps lately. In the past 5 months I have quit my day job, created a full time coaching business, launched a new website, written my first ebook and created my first paid online program – The 90 Day Transformation Project.

Each of these steps have required me to play big, to take risks and to be daring and brave. I have had to step up and shine  my light out to the world.

But if I were to be honest, there were still some areas where I was hiding. For most of us, we have those areas where we have the courage to play big, but there are those other areas where fear rules the show and keeps us safe and small

 

Shine Your Light

Something amazing happens when you allow yourself to do something that you previously thought you could not do. Suddenly you realise that all of those stories you have been telling yourself for so long, are in fact lies.

A new door opens that leads on to a fresh, unknown path. Your perception of yourself shifts. The level you are playing at suddenly shifts up a notch and a whole new reality now lays at your feet.

When you continue to play small, you allow your stories to rule you.

When you step up and shine your light, you prove your stories wrong. You blast them out of the water. You show them once and for all, that you a much bigger and brighter than they have been trying to convince you .

 

It Is Time To Step Up

Last week, was a big week for me. I had to step up. Shine my light. Allow myself to be seen. Let my truth be expressed. Stop hiding.

For a while now I have been telling myself a story about being afraid of public speaking. The irony of it, is that for years I have had such a strong yearning to speak and I know in my heart that it what I am born to do. But my ego had created a very compelling case that convinced me that this was something I could not do.

Every time I would have the chance to speak in front of an audience I would become nervous and jittery and as a result I would shy away from the experience wherever I could. This was one area of my life where I knew I was playing small, yet I felt completely paralysed and unable to overcome it.

 

When The Student Is Ready

And so, last week my teacher appeared. As part of my life coach training I attended a compulsory 4 day program called How to Run A Successful Workshop. This event required me to be standing up on front of a group numerous times a day presenting for between 5-20 minutes each time.

I spent most of the event as a bundle of nerves, dreading every time I had to stand up and speak.

But something amazing happened. Because I could no longer run from my fears, I instead had to embrace them. I had no choice but to welcome them in.

As I stood up there and spoke I could feel the nerves in my belly and the shakiness in my voice, but rather than resisting them, I simply allowed them to be there. And what eventually happened was simply magical – the fears just melted away.

Then on Sunday, I spoke to a group of phenomenal female bloggers and entrepreneurs at the Live Aspire Blog event.

As I stood up there in front of all of these women, speaking from my heart, the fears I used to experience seemed a distant memory. I felt alive, inspired and calm.

The amazing thing that I discovered is that underneath all your fear, lies your truth. In that moment in the absence of fear I was able to experience my truth. Living from this place creates a feeling of freedom, love and fulfilment unlike anything I have experienced before.

 

You Must Embrace Your Fears

Embrace your fears. Welcome them in. Open up to them and send them love. Allow them to be there, rather than resisting them. Feel them. Give them space. Let them be.

So far, the month of April is blowing my mind. My 5 day Oneness Retreat combined with my transformative week of facing and embracing my fear of public speaking is causing huge shifts.

There is a powerful energy stirring inside of me at the moment. On some level it feels a tad uncomfortable because it is filled with the unknown. I can’t quite define this energy, but if I were to put a word to it, I would call it the feeling of possibility.

When you move beyond fear and return to the space of love, infinite possibilities lay before you.

 

Connie x