Our Deepest Fear

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” – Marianne Williamson

When I first read this quote, I was perplexed. I didn’t understand what it meant. How could we ever fear our own greatness? Isn’t that what we all want? Isn’t that what we are all looking for? I pondered this for a long time. Then, I started to learn about the mind, and I started meditating. And THAT’S when I got my answer.

I sat and got comfortable. I closed my eyes and began to focus on breath. The rising and falling of my chest with each breath in….and out….Everything was quiet….For about 30 seconds. Then, THE MIND CHATTER STARTED.

My thoughts started RACING. Memories of every uncomfortable experience that I’d ever had bubbled up to the surface in excruciating detail. Anxiety. Fear….Doubt. My mind started hitting me with the: You’re not good enough! You can’t do that! Those other people are so much better than you!

My mind was trying to regain control. Not to hurt me, but to keep me safe. It didn’t want me experiencing something new. It wanted to keep me safely locked up in my prison of comfort, with all the familiar thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviours I’d already experienced and had grown to know so well. Because, to my mind, familiar equals predictable, and predictable equals safe, and safe ensures my survival….our survival.

But I ignored this internal chaos, and I brought my focus back to my breath again and again. Eventually, everything fell completely….silent. An overwhelming feeling of peace and well-being washed over me like waves on the sand.

I had tamed the wild animal. I was in control. And I felt AMAZING. I felt like anything was possible, like I could achieve all my goals and then some, like I could take on the entire world. I feared NOTHING in that moment. Because my mind was no longer standing in my way.

And I understood the meaning of that quote. We don’t fear being inadequate, because believing that we are in adequate, that’s easy. It keeps us in our comfort zones, it keeps us small, it stops us outshining others, and therefore, it keeps us safe.

But believing in our power, that….THAT is what’s scary. Because that leads to uncharted territories, less trodden paths, and foreign lands where nothing can be predicted. But it’s in THOSE places where all our dreams lie, and where adventure awaits.

And so, it really is true that everything we want lies on the other side of fear. And fear….Well, fear is just an illusion, created by our minds to keep up in our comfort zones. To keep us in the familiar, the predictable, and the already has been.

And I think it’s time that we all stop sacrificing our dreams for….an illusion.