Your mind is amazing! It is in the full time business of keeping you safe. It reminds you to be careful. It warns you of not acting too foolish. It points out everything that could possibly go wrong if you take too much of a risk.

It absolutely LOVES to hold you back from anything and everything that might hurt you physically, emotionally or in your relationships.

It’s on the job 24/7, running like clockwork.

As great as that may sound, there is a problem with this – there is rarely a good reason for living a life of safety. In fact, as a newborn you came into the world absolutely fearless! Research tells us that the only 2 universal fears that everyone on the planet arrives with is the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. This means that every fear you possess as adults, and that your mind carefully guards against, is LEARNED.

Negative experiences, painful relationships and distorted teaching all led to the creation of your own unique set of fears, fears that were actually non-existent at birth.

As a child, you accumulated fear after fear which, with each new fear quietly growing within you, led to the disappearance of that outgoing, joyful, fearless part of you that made life so exciting and fun.

Before learning to be afraid and anxious, however, every day and moment was a possibility of experiencing something new and wonderful. If it went well, we loved it! If it went poorly, who cared, because the next thing in our life might be even more wonderful!

Yet, I wonder what happened to that bright-eyed, risk-taking explorer. Where is that creator and adventurer that lived each moment to the fullest? Did the fears that you learned permanently bury, under layers of cautiousness and anxiety, your potential for an exciting life?

Well, I have great news,

You never, EVER lose that part of yourself.

In spite of the anxiety you feel, the things you anticipate, and the worries you obsess over, somewhere, sometimes way, way down, is that original, loving, caring ‘wild and crazy’ child inside of you who really knows how to play and live.

I have discovered, in my work with hundreds of fearful adults over the past 40 years, that each and every one possess, underneath their fear, a potential boldness that is just dying to be given permission to come out.

For some of you, the process can be very scary and challenging as you hear that quiet, yet insistent, voice that whispers, “Who do you think you are? Life is way too BIG and you are not enough. You better be more careful.” This voice, as well meaning as it is, is a LIAR, and only, as we said earlier, in the business of helping you survive life rather than experiencing it and thriving.

It’s time to quiet this voice and replace it with one that affirms how amazing you really are.

I would like to encourage you, TODAY, to take a stand against your fears, against the lies you have heard since you were a child.

Tell yourself (maybe quietly at first but much louder later!) that how ever long it takes or whatever is needed,

“I am tired of being afraid of living … I have value … I matter … I am capable of achieving amazing things … I was created as a magnificent work of art!”

Let yourself feel the fear, accept that it has been trying to keep you safe for so many years, and then tell it goodbye, over and over, day by day.

Begin today to let go and step into who you really are – a child of God, designed to experience joy and the fullness of life – in your business, in your art, in your relationships and in everything you set out to do and experience.

The post Step Out of Fear and Into Joy! first appeared on Dr. Nick Lazaris.