Daniel Comp posted on February 07, 2010
Remember the ‘NO FEAR’ bumper sticker? I’ve seen them on the back of old beater trucks and rusted Volvo wagons with mismatched body parts. I’d usually spot the sticker right after they cut in front of me, while trying to pass with head-on traffic. My usual reaction was something like; “you don’t have fear cause you’re stupid!”
Just before turn four at Seattle International Raceway, I was passed by a guy that knew how to get where he was going, and he was fast!
The last thing I saw on the back of his 911 was a sticker that said; KNOW FEAR! I remember thinking; “now that’s a guy I’ll follow.” I bet he knows something about fear that I don’t.
I don’t think I’m too different than most guys, but I’ll admit that the dominant emotions of my life have been frustration and anger. Most people close to me used to be able to spot my emotional state before I did. I bet it was the volume and tone of my voice. I grew up with a yelling household, so ‘loud’ was normal for us. I lived in fear most of my childhood, but never learned to associated fear with anger until the past few years. More importantly, I’ve learned to change my beliefs about the false conclusions which initiate my fear.
Watch this video in HD at full screen and you’ll see what I mean that ‘knowing fear’, and adrenalin, can improve your performance. This is a lot of fun… but isn’t much good for living peacefully in emotional control with confidence that I’m in good hands of a loving creator. (although I think HE likes riding along!)
I’m finally learning to feel fear by the constriction of my chest. It might simply be a tension due to stress, but underneath I know what it is – finally! When I peel back a few layers of my false beliefs, which are based on very early childhood experiences, I find that I’m afraid of something that isn’t real – being ALONE. I don’t simply mean ‘without company’. I mean left alone ‘to figure it out myself’, and more-so, to do it without time or resources. Does that sound familiar? It will if you’ve been an entrepreneur for awhile.
To me, fear is ‘False Emotionally Associated Realities’ – some ‘terrible’ thing happened to me once upon a time, and I felt a lot of pain. NOW, I KNOW; “it’s about to happen again. I’m going to suffer undeserved consequences and that’s not fair…” Can you feel the stress and fear? My chest starts tightening up ‘in protection’ just by writing this. Fortunately I’m a bit wiser now.
Save this desktop image if you like. I made it to remind me how I choose to think – to change my beliefs and to associate my thoughts, by faith, with a ‘reality’ that is more reflective of who I want to become.
Anger is an expression of fear. It isn’t based on truth. I feel ‘afraid’ when I falsely believe that I am separated from God. The truth is; God experiences life through me, and nothing in all creation can separate us ~ Romans 8
Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen... ~ Hebrews 11
Take a deep breath and trust God ... he knows the way.
Follow me… I KNOW FEAR!
