Fear of burglaries is one of those fears that is completely justified on the one hand and yet completely irrational on the other hand – at least for most people. The reason it makes sense is that people get robbed every day. The reason it is irrational as a fear is that the odds are against you being a victim of burglary if you take the proper precautions.

Learn to Protect Yourself

One of the greatest ways to overcome fear is through action. Take action and become proactive in making your home, car, and/or person an unattractive target. In the end this will make your fear of burglaries a little more unjustified than other fears you may face. You want to learn how not to be a victim. This is the best defense against burglary and should help erase some of your fears.

Relaxation Techniques

Another great way to ease your fear of burglaries is through relaxation techniques. Get into a habit or create a ritual each night before turning in or every day before you head out on your appointed errands. When you have a ritual in place that you can follow consistently it will help relieve any anxiety you may feel in association with burglary or break-ins.

Know the Numbers

Everything in life is a numbers game. If you arm yourself with the knowledge that the odds are against you becoming a break-in victim it may help calm your fear of burglaries. There is no guarantee that this will be an effective deterrent but it certainly can’t help. In your neighborhood, what are the odds that your home or car will be broken into? You can call the local police station to get the statistics. One thing to remember though is that phobias are not always logical in nature.

Become an Advocate for Defense

Don’t limit your activism to your own home and life. Take it to those who need help. Attend classes, start classes on self defense, begin a neighborhood watch, and hold educational seminars on the latest home security systems. By helping others learn to help themselves you are empowering yourself and everyone who is educated, informed, or helped as a result of your efforts.

Self Hypnosis to Relieve Fear of Burglaries

If, after taking the actions mentioned above you are still struggling with your fear you might want to consider the potential value of hypnosis to relieve stress and open up your mind to a life lived without fear. If your phobia of break ins is impairing your daily life or causing problems with your interactions with others it’s time to try something different for help.

Ending Fear and Moving On

Aren’t you ready to put the debilitating fear behind you and move on to the more important things in life? If you are living in fear of burglaries you aren’t living your life to the fullest -it’s time to make some changes in your life are you ready to do whatever it takes?

If someone was asked to share their views on something, they might not have a problem speaking out. Also, if another person was to do something that they disagreed with, they could also be happy to speak up.

What this can illustrate is that this is someone who doesn’t have any trouble asserting themselves. They could often be described as someone who is confident and comfortable in their own skin.

Two Parts

One is then going to be aware of what is taking place within them and they will feel comfortable enough to vocalise it. Being this way is likely to have a positive effect on just about every area of their life.

Ultimately, it will allow them to behave like an individual, which wouldn’t be necessary if they were merely an extension of others. In this case, what was taking place inside them would be no different to what was taking place inside everyone else.

Not a Clone

Like a programmed machine, what is true for them would be true for everyone else on the planet. But as they have their own inner self, it will mean that there will be times when they come out with things that go against what other people believe.

Thus, even if someone agrees what they say in one moment, it doesn’t mean that they will in the next. So, just as there can be people who admire the fact that one stands their ground, there can also be people that don’t.

A Number of Areas

​

The connection that they have with their inner world, along with the comfort that they have in expressing what is taking place there, will enable them to show up in their relationships. They will be able to open about how they feel and they will be able to disagree with someone if they need to.

Still, this is not to say that they will be argumentative as they may be able to do this without coming across as aggressive or rude. The people in their life might not have a problem with this as they could be the same.

Career

When they are at work, being this way could allow them to make a greater contribution to a project, for instance. Thanks to the confidence they have in speaking up, they won’t need to worry about how other people will respond to their ideas.

Furthermore, it could allow them to move up the ladder faster than they would otherwise. The reason for this is that they will be able to speak up if they don’t feel that they are getting paid what they deserve, and this will help them during any interviews that they have.

The Bigger Picture

This can show that one doesn’t spend too much time thinking about what may or may not happen if they speak up, preferring to focus on their own objectives. What this will do is stop them from wasting their valuable energy and postponing what they need to do.

Tension may arise after they have said something, but keeping what they said to themselves might not have solved anything. It can often be a case of short-term pain, long-term gain or short-term gain, long-term pain.

Another Scenario

Although there will be people who are able to express themselves in this way, there are going to be others that are unable to do so. If someone experiences life in this way, it is going to be a challenge for them to assert themselves.

This doesn’t mean that they will never speak up; what it means is that this will be something that rarely takes place. Keeping their thoughts and feelings to themselves is likely to be what feels comfortable.

A Door Mat

Therefore, regardless of whether they are around friends or at work, they will generally keep things in. If they don’t like or agree with something, for example, they will do what they can to hide this from others.

Experiencing life in this way is not going to be very fulfilling, yet it is going to be what feels comfortable. If they were to connect to what is actually going on for them and to speak out, they could end up feeling overwhelmed.

A Closer Look

If it is normal for them to keep their true feelings to themselves and to have moments when they don’t even know what is going on for them, it could be because they don’t feel safe enough to speak up. Deep down, they could believe that doing so would cause their life to come to an end.

One way of looking at this would be to say that this belief is completely irrational and that they need to let it go. Another way of looking at it would be to say that while it may seem irrational, there was probably a time in their life when it was perfectly rational.

Early Years

​

During the beginning of their life, they may have been brought up in an environment that was dangerous. One or both of their caregivers may have been physically abusive and, if they dared to speak out, they could have been severely harmed or neglected.

Over time, they may have lost touch with what was taking place within them and just done their best to please their caregiver/s. Even so, losing touch with themselves most likely wouldn’t have stopped them for being harmed or neglected.

Awareness

The trauma that they experienced at this stage of their life will have stayed trapped in their body and, until they start to resolve it, it will be a challenge for them to speak up. This trauma could cause their throat, as well as their body, to tighten up.

If one can relate to this, and they want to change their life, they may need to reach out for external support. This is something that can be provided by the assistance of a therapist or a healer.

When it comes to anxiety disorders, such as monophobia, the effects the disorder can have on a person’s everyday life are crippling. What starts as an eccentric trait can quickly progress into a serious condition that influences nearly every aspect of a person’s life. In the case of monophobia, a fear of being alone, this can result in reclusive behaviors, panic attacks and bring a person’s social, emotional and mental well-being crashing down around them.

When you see stories on the news or television about these disorders, it is always about the latest treatments or expensive programs that guarantee success. Of course, these come at a substantial monetary cost and can often involve flying halfway around the world. Worst of all, almost none of these programs guarantee they will cure your anxiety. Few even guarantee they will improve your symptoms.

What these programs do not tell you is that many of the most powerful methods available for managing your anxiety and symptoms are inside you. With some work and patience, it is quite possible to manage and reduce your symptoms significantly using proven methods such as deep cycle breathing, desensitization and meditation. While professional assistance might be required for extreme cases or as occasional assistance throughout your healing process, you can create lasting results on your own. If you feel unable to handle the process on your own, there is nothing wrong with seeking professional assistance.

The key to this is finding the root of your monophobia or anxiety issue. Most phobias are based in a trauma life experience. More often than not, this is an event that occurred during your childhood. Frequent causes of monophobia include the death of a parent at a young age and abandonment. Once you know what is causing your anxiety, you can then start to work on reducing your symptoms.

For many sufferers of monophobia, the best results come from exposure therapy. This is a method of therapy that involves exposing yourself to the triggers of your anxiety and then keeping yourself in the situation for as long as possible. You can start by simply having the person who is your comforter leave the room. When it becomes too much to bear, have them come back in. Each time you repeat this, try to add a few minutes to your time. This provides an easily tracked way of monitoring your progress. Before you know it, you will be able to go extended periods without anxiety. Eventually the problem can even be resolved permanently.

Imagine a scenario where the opposition was continually outwitted by the ruling party in its battle campaign against demonetization. The embattled opposition turned to god for help. They prayed to goddess Saraswati for a boon to outwit the Prime Minister. Heeding the relentless prayer, the Goddess agreed to twist the tongue of the Prime Minister at the appropriate time a la Kumbhakarna who received Nidravatvam (sleep) instead of Nirdevatvam (annihilation of Devas) in Ramayana. As and when the Christmas and New Year drew near, the Prime Minister wanted to wish the nation in a secular way with 'Merry Christmas and Happy New Year'. But when the PM wanted to utter these words, Goddess played the trick, what was uttered was I wish all Indians 'Merry Crisis and Happy New Fear', much to the cheer of the opposition.

What are the crises and fears awaiting us for 2017? Whether we like or dislike, let us brace up for crises and fears post demonetization. This can be better illustrated at the statement of RSS affiliated trade union front BMS President Baji Nath Rai who pointed "demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes had cost many jobs". Rai stated on December 9, 2006, that one lakh and thirty-five thousand job opportunities have been created against 20 lakh people who have lost their jobs. According to HfS research, the IT sector is going to lose 6.4 lakh jobs to automation by 2021.

In the coming years, we can expect more laying off due to loss-making industries as a result of demonetization induced low purchasing power parity. Realty sector is reeling under the impact heavily, so are the allied sectors like cement and steel. What about other businesses? As people refuse to part their cash till the uncertainty is over, all luxury segments, hospitality, and travel segment will feel the pinch. In such a scenario, the government should act fast on filling cash in ATMs, offer swiping card machines at cheaper rates or free. The government also should start budget housing projects for the common man to boost the demand for cement and steel.

What the India Inc., expecting from the government is to start capital infusion in the infrastructure areas to stir up all round economic activity at the right earnest. Alongside there should be proper communication to address the grievance of different sectors and the common man. To meet the cash shortages, the government can also think about mobile ATMs to the citizens across the country.

More importantly, the government should announce an economic package from money earned through demonetization. This is important to give hope to the citizens. The biggest advantage of the ruling party is a fragmented opposition. People will still trust and support the ruling party if the government clearly communicates how they are going to be benefited, how their waiting is worth etc? It is nothing but the lack of communication in this regard creates more uncertainty, crisis, and fears to the India Inc. The Prime Minister should act fast to mold public opinion, cultivating friends from the opposition and saving the nation.

Have you ever experienced fear? Do you wish you could get rid of fear and enjoy your life more? You are not alone. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 6.3 Million people suffer from some sort of mental illness. Sixty percent of the population fears things that will never take place, 30 percent fear things that have happened in the past and can’t be changed, 90 percent fear things that are considered to be insignificant and 88 percent of the population fear things that are related to their health that will never occur. Clearly, fear is a large part of our lives.

In chapter 16 of the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna speaks of the many virtues of an awakened being. The first virtue Lord Krishna lists is fearlessness. Before we can access our higher nature, we need to achieve freedom from the tenacious grip of fear.

Understanding Fear

Fear is an unpleasant and often strong emotional reaction caused by anticipation or awareness of danger or harm. FEAR makes you forget everything and run. Fear gives birth to ego, anger and resentment. We can think of fear standing for:

F: Forget

E: Ego

A: Anger

R: Resentment

However, not all fears are bad. Fear is completely natural and helps people to recognize and respond to dangerous situations and threats. It is important to understand that some fear is healthy. Healthy fear stimulates responses that give us protection, warning and the burst of adrenaline necessary to run from a rabid dog (protective function). Usually, however, fear is an illusion. Most fear is an unhealthy projection of the subconscious mind.

Different Fear for Different People

Fear is different for everyone and is different at different times in one’s life. For example, a newly pregnant women may have fear of delivering a baby, a new mother may have fear of raising the baby or breast feeding, etc.

The most common fears are fear of being unsafe,, dying, flying, losing identity or a job, losing a loved one or relationship,, stage/TV/ public speaking,failure or success, being humiliated

3 Types of Fear:

1. Real Fear

2. Anticipated or Possible Fear

3. Emotional Fears and Phobias

Fear emotions are very detrimental to our physiological and emotional health.

The experience of fear affects our bodies in many ways. Whether real or imagined, when our minds perceive a fear, it sends a warning (ACTH) which is received by the adrenal glands. In response, our adrenal glands are triggered to release cortisol, adrenaline, and other stress hormones. These hormones cause muscular tension, and give birth to many diseases as ulcer, high blood pressure, heart attach, and many immune deficiency diseases.

So how do we overcome fear?

Live Fearlessly

• Fearlessness is one of the virtues of a spiritually awakened person. It allows us to enjoy the challenges and gifts of life with honesty, courage, and joy. Strive to transform fearfulness into awareness, acceptance, and true perception- Live Fearlessly. Then enjoy the gifts of eternal happiness, peace, balance, and health and spread those positive feelings to others. Therefore, turn fear into Face everything and rise.

• Face

• Everything

• And

• Rise

Through Faith

• Freedom

• Awareness, Acceptance, Action

• Inward, go within

• Trust and take care of you

• Healthy and Eternal Happy

3 Quick Steps: when you experience threatens or fears just try the following:

1. Breathe – Take a deep breath and hold it in (20-25 seconds) or as long as you comfortably can. Then exhale completely. Repeat until you feel calmer. This interrupts the fear cycle.

2. Hydrate – Drink a tall glass of pure water.

3. Remind yourself- “Even if it happens, so what?” Practice non-attachment and acceptance by reminding yourself that whatever happens, everything will be okay. Repeat positive affirmations- “I am relaxed” or “I am calm, alert, and fearless”

Live in the Consciousness of Being Fearless

Note: Take Medical Help if necessary. Some fears are actually phobias that require the help of a therapist or doctor to dismantle. Example: Chronic fear, phobia- – I became aware that had claustrophobia during my pregnancy but later I learned that I had developed it from childhood, and then I learned that my mother, aunts and cousins have the same problem but did not know what was happening- heredity problem. I learned how to handle it and I am dealing the BEST.

The numbness and tingling are spreading. The muscles are more spastic, stiffer and tighter. Legs are weaker; coordination and balance are worse. Walking endurance is reduced and the fatigue is escalating. Why?

Multiple Sclerosis is an unpredictable disorder, and symptoms vary immensely in type, frequency, and intensity. Figuring out what is going on and what to do about it is fearful, frustrating and confusing.

And there's always the chicken-and-the-egg question of trying to figure out what is causing what. Is the MS itself acting up, or is it reacting to something else? Is the depression (fatigue, etc.) causing a bad day or flare-up, or is the bad day / flare-up causing the depression (or fatigue, etc.)?

It's very easy to blame what the symptoms are doing and how we are feeling on the MS itself. However, more often than not, the MS is actually reacting to something else.

So how do you know, and what can you do about it?

MS is highly sensitive to an endless list of things, and existing symptoms often intensify due to things such as:

• weather changes and types of weather (heat, humidity, storms)
• sickness (colds, allergies, infections …)
• lack of food, water, rest, sleep …
• medication
• stress (temporary physical / emotional / mental, not chronic)
• monthly menses

For example, a fever can immobilize a person with MS. When the body is cooled down and the fever is gone, the symptoms will subside. Spending two hours on the phone trying to resolve an insurance problem can escalate fatigue enormously; taking a nap afterward or venting in some way will ease that stress and help calm down those symptoms.

Or, maybe those intensified symptoms are the result of what I refer to as a
"pay day." For example, if I wake up one day feeling great, I might push myself too hard to do extra things. Then I "pay" for it the next day and can do only half of my normal daily activities.

In situations like these, the worsening of symptoms can last from several hours to a full day to perhaps several days, depending on what the cause is. You have to think carefully about things like this relative to recent or that day's events: What happened or didn't happen? What changed or didn't change?

When you figure out what the culprit is, it can then be remedied and the symptoms will calm down. Things go back to their normal state, whatever "normal" is to you. No residual damage.

So when the MS itself would directly cause intensified symptoms or new symptoms that do NOT go away after a few days? Now we may be talking about an attack, relapse, or flare-up … ie when we come out of remission. It can just happen on its own, but often will be triggered by any major event, such as:

• falls, accidents, sicknesses, infections
• chronic physical, mental or emotional fatigue / stress
• a major life occurrence (death, divorce, new baby, abuse …)

In these situations, or in the case when symptoms don't calm down after a week, when the cold / infection is over, and bed rest does not improve anything, it's time to call your neurologist to discuss the situation. The MS may be relapsing and steroids (like Solu-medrol) may be needed to shorten the duration and severity of the relapse.

It is a good idea to keep a journal, taking notes of what happens with symptoms, medication changes, health (eg menses, colds …), etc. Over time, being tuned in with your body will help you figure out if it is the chicken or the egg. Then appropriate action can be taken to calm down those activated symptoms – and calm down the fear that accompanies them.

Even among experienced riders, fear or anxiety can seem like an insurmountable obstacle in riding or just being around horses. Your horse spooks and you get hurt, you experience pain and lose the ability to be relaxed and supple, you see someone else get thrown. All of these events can cause anxiety and excessive fearful responses. Because horses tune in to our emotional states, our anxiety can cause unwanted behavior like shying or what seems like disobedience. When we are calm and confident our horses tend to be the same. Anxiety is a learned response to the perceived possibility of danger. Riders can learn to overcome negative responses to anxiety, stay in the moment and enjoy the time on their horse. Fear is a natural, normal and necessary response to immediate threat and danger, for example, when your horse suddenly spins and bolts. To ride well and stick with the horse you can learn to stay relaxed and adhered to the saddle even in fearful moments.

Fear or anxiety can seem like an insurmountable obstacle in riding or just being around horses. Many riders are afraid to some extent. For some it means having a healthy regard for horses, for others it means not achieving what they would like with horses, and for others it means not riding. While there is a difference between fear and anxiety, both can cause riders to lose security in the saddle and horses to react by spooking or becoming tense. Fear is a natural, normal and necessary response to immediate threat and danger. Anxiety is a learned response to the perceived possibility of danger. While some riders are held back from their responses to fear evoking events and anxiety, others learn to control the thought processes and emotional and physical responses engendered by both.

Have you seen one person seemingly float along with their shying horse, not even bumping in the saddle? That person has learned to overcome the natural instinct to stiffen against danger – fear is there but their body responds in a way that keeps them on the horse. Do you have friends who seem to remain calm on their horse even when you know they are anxious? They have learned to overcome natural responses and stay relaxed and present. The good news? Anyone can learn to overcome negative responses, whether to fear or anxiety. Through a series of mental and physical exercises, including mindfulness and body awareness training, you can learn to identify how the mind and body create anxiety and then learn to distinguish the difference between relaxed, harmonious states and fearful or anxious states. By practicing being in control of how you experience relaxation and how you communicate your feelings through your body to your horse, you can overcome responses that sabotage your riding and upset your horse. In addition, you can learn specific ways to move with the horse's motion, even if it's sudden and unexpected, so you are confident in the saddle.

Horses, as herd animals, read and mirror our emotional and physical state. When the rider is calm and confident the horse tends to be also. An anxious rider make the horse more likely to be tense, spook, or not pay attention to the rider's aids. By learning to calm mental and physical aspects of anxiety and learning to change our physical response to fear we can keep our horses calm, responsive and attentive to our desires.

How does this work? The brain senses a threat from the environment or from a memory or a thought and transmits fear to the body via neuro-chemicals. The body reacts by preparing to flee or confront the threat. If the threat is perceived as intense the brain may react with panic and flood the cerebral cortex with chemicals that result in disorganized behavior like freezing or panic – responses that make you fall of and your horse become more afraid. Fear / anxiety responses are similar whether the body is reacting to an actual threat, a memory, or a lesson. For example, a horse tries to buck you off (actual threat), when you were a child a horse bucked you off (memory), a parent told you never to ride horses because they will buck (lesson). Your mind may not distinguish between these three types of experiences. Your body will respond to a lesson in a similar way it responds to the horse actually bucking. By using a beginners mind when you ride you can learn to train your mind to react differently to memories and lessons and act appropriately to immediate threat.

A beginners mind is open to experience, it is accepting and non-judgmental and it reacts to the present moment. In contrast the experts mind pre-judges, expects imagined outcomes, and knows what will happen (self-fulfilling prophecy). And, while you may not be able to control an actual event (a plastic bag spooks your horse) you can learn to control your reaction. Learning how to sit with the movement of the horse to have a more secure, harmonious seat is one step toward maintaining cool confidence. Another is learning to remain in the actual conditions of the present moment. My sister Wendy Morseth is a clinical psychologist who works with people to overcome fear and anxiety. We have teamed up and offer clinics for riders wishing to experience the joy of Riding without Fear. For more information see: sitthetrot.com/RideWoFear.htm .

Fear

Of what am I afraid, you ask.
Of myself, I answer.
The self I have hidden deep down inside,
the one I'm afraid you won't like,
the one I sometimes don't like either.

I'm afraid that parts of this self
will rise to the surface
and I won't be able to push them back down.
I will no longer be able to hide them
and maybe I'll lose some of what I have
my friends,
my loves,
my present lifestyle.

I feel like so many parts of me are fighting
for control of my being.
I feel torn apart, confused,
v wondering what I can safely let out,
and what will escape.
I wonder how I'll put myself back together,
which pieces will stay, and
which will be gone.

I don't know what will happen
and I'm afraid of the unknown.
It's so much safer just existing as I am,
but I know I must face myself, my fears,
if I'm to have any peace,
and I want peace.

Fear – that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. The feeling that makes the sweat start to flow. The feeling that constricts the blood vessels so that you can't catch your breath. The feeling that makes you think you are losing your voice. The feeling that keeps us from accomplishing many things, that keeps us from trying something new.

Fear is, and always has been, one of the greatest enemies of humankind. Fear of public speaking ranks higher than fear of death. When Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," he was saying that the emotion of fear, rather than the reality of what we fear, is what causes us anxiety, stress, and unhappiness. When we develop the habit of courage and unshakable self-confidence, a whole new world of possibilities opens up for us.

When we have limited information, we tend to be tense and insecure about the outcome of our actions. Ignorance causes us to fear change, to fear the unknown and to avoid trying anything new or different. But the reverse is also true. The very act of gathering more and more information about a particular subject causes us to have more courage and confidence in that area. Imagine how free we would feel and what we could accomplish if we could live without fear.

The only way to effectively deal with fear is to confront it; to ask ourselves, what is the worst that can happen? Usually what we imagine is much worse than the actual result. It's ironic that some people are more fearful of public speaking than of driving in traffic. Yet, vastly more casualties and fatalities result from traffic accidents than from public speaking. The courageous person is simply one who goes forward in spite of the fear. It is a funny fact, but when you confront your fears and move toward what you are afraid of, your fears diminish and your self-esteem and self-confidence increase.

You may remember Anna in the King and I. She was afraid of the King and so she sang a song about her fears and how she noticed that when she pretended she wasn't afraid and fooled others, she also felt less fearful.

As Brian Tracy says, "the habit of courage can be learned just as any other success skill is learned. To do so, we need to go to work systematically to diminish and eradicate our fears, while simultaneously building up the kind of courage that will enable us to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life unafraid. "

Fear is a natural survival mechanism. It can motivate us, or stop us in our tracks. In situations that pose a threat to life and limb, fear motivates us to be careful. However, fear is a problem when it interferes with our goals and achievements.

At Toastmasters fear is what prevents our participating in Table Topics, or making a speech. We may be afraid of making a fool of ourselves in front of others. We may have been teased or taunted as children. Whatever the reason for our fear, one of the reasons we come to Toastmasters is to learn to overcome some of these fears about public speaking and the only way to do this is to actually participate in the activities of the evening meeting. For those who are just starting, the job of "Ah counter" or "Timer" may be an appropriate job. The job description can easily be read from the back of the agenda if necessary, sparing the participant the trouble of actually having to remember the duties, thus easing a little of the tension. For those who are a little more adventurous, participating in the Table Topics, giving the word of the week, or telling a joke or story may be the next step.

I decided to join to help me get over my fear of giving a speech to a large group of people. I've been giving training workshops for a number of years, but workshops are much different than speeches. In a workshop you have a lot more time to do things, you are in a discussion with others, and you can back track if necessary. With a speech, you have to have it all in the right order right from the beginning. Working through the 10 speeches for your Competent Toastmaster certification can give you the direction and confidence you need to move ahead.

Once you become more comfortable with the people around you, you realize that they are only there to help you, to edify you. Then it is time to take the next step and confront your fears by giving your first speech – your Ice Breaker. This will help you gain confidence to move on through the rest of your speeches. Remember, the more you learn, the easier it is to face your fears.

Do not be afraid to shine.
This world needs what you have to give.
Open up the areas of your being;
Expose them to yourself – to others.
you are valuable.
You are unique.
You have much to give.
Do not be afraid to give it.

As we risk ourselves, we grow.
Each new experience is a risk.
We can try, and maybe fail,
And, as a result, grow–
Or hold back and stagnate.

You have the potential
To be anything you want.
You are free to choose.
You are limited only by your fears.
Let your dreams take over.
Fly with the eagles.
Soar into life.
The world is waiting for you.

Copyright March 1987
Fran Watson

A few years ago I was in a workshop on prayer led by the late William Vaswig. He shared that his life was changed when his son was severely depressed and there seemed to be no one who could help him. At the time Vaswig was a pastor, but none of his counseling worked and neither did anything the psychologists suggested.

He called Agnes Sanford, who had authored books on prayer and spiritual health. He took a chance she might see him and she did. When he and his son arrived at her doorstep she told him, "You pastors know all about prayer except how to make it work."

She met in private with the son and then told Vaswig she would need to see him for two or three more sessions. She then hugged Vaswig and prayed, "God, your servant is carrying this burden. It is not his fault." Vaswig shared he wept from the deepest recesses of his heart. He wept for his son in pain, he wept for his own fears, and he wept as he released the pain he was carrying inside over not being able to help his son.

Vaswig shared that a few days later his son was healthy and at peace. He was completely changed spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically. The psychiatrists who had worked with him were stunned. They asked if Vaswig would set up a meeting with Ms. Sanford to explain how she helped their patient when they seemed powerless to bring about any change.

Sanford agreed to sit down with them as they anxiously wanted to know why she was able to accomplish in a matter of days what they couldn't in a matter of months.
She told the psychiatrists that the patient had taken a lot of fear into his life after witnessing terrifying events happening in the world and also in his own life.

As many others have noted as well, she insisted that love and fear can't co-exist in the same place, and neither can gratitude and fear. Scripture states that God is not the author of fear. The Apostle John wrote, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18). She then explained she prayed for the patient to have a deep sense of God's love, knowing that once that love was felt, fear would automatically vanish.

What holds people back? Fear of the unknown, fear of acceptance, fear of failure, fear in a myriad of forms. What drives out the darkness of fear? Resting in the love of God, giving thanks for the gifts in your life, and trusting that His promises really are true.

The concept of faith has always been something that has been a mystery to me. I never really understood it and in some ways I have struggled trying to figure it out. Now, fear on the other hand is something I totally understand and in many ways it just comes naturally to me. Part of reason for why fear comes more naturally has to do with how our brains are wired to survive. Back in the day being afraid helped keep us physically alive.

As for faith, I would constantly read about it and hear others talk about it – that it's something you just have. To my logical mind (which is very analytical and wants lots of proof and evidence), this made no sense to me – how do you just believe in something you can't see.

For a long time I thought I just don't know how to have faith until I realized that faith and fear were actually the same thing (essentially). Both faith and fear are believing in something you can't see. Faith is usually associated with the positive side that something good will happen. Fear is usually associated with the negative side that something bad will happen.

It surprised me that I was already technically "having faith" but choosing the negative aspect of it through fear. I already knew how to do it I just wasn't consciously choosing which side I wanted to focus on. This is where I had to start learning to trick my logical / analytical mind that wants proof of everything.

Here's what I do to choose faith:

1. Be aware when you are feeling afraid
2. Ask – What are you believing is going to happen?
3. Rationalize – Remind yourself that you are choosing to believe something that hasn't actually happened yet. You have a choice – either way there's no proof (even if it's happened before) because right now it hasn't occurred yet.
4. Ask – Do you want to keep choosing the fear option? Or would you rather feel better and have a little faith?

If you'd rather feel better, then use something that will help shift your focus such as a phrase like "Have faith – everything always works in the end" or use a catchy song that will help remind you such as "Have a Little Faith in Me ".

Whether we are choosing faith or fear, either way we are choosing to believe something that we can't see or hasn't happened yet. It's helpful to remember that in the end all we are ever wanting is to feel better. So choose to have faith for that reason alone because it just feels better.