Last week I posted about giving up on your dreams. This week, I wanted to talk some about fear and resistance.

Because fear and resistance can seem like standing in the middle of a black hole with nothing but the universe staring back at you.

If your dream points you toward the image of where you want to be when you’re 80 (thank you, Lara Casey, to pointing me to this), but you aren’t making progressive steps forward, why not?

Fear? Resistance? I’ve lived with those both myself. Sometimes enough to believe I really didn’t want that dream in the first place.

Oh man, battling fear and resistance is the worse. Steven Pressfield talked about it in his novel, WAR OF ART and blogs about it now.

How many people have actually given up because of this?

From my experience, I know the resistance one can face when it comes to their creativity and sharing their creativity with others. Some people really do just get lucky, in my opinion, but some people are just really good at it. And times have changed so much. Some people embrace social media, some people not so much.

I’m one of those not so much people. Live video? Forget it!

Don’t give me wrong. I love a lot of aspects of social media. I learn so many things and I have always loved learning what makes others tick. Social media is a great way to meet new people. But when you’re a creative and you don’t feel like you have anything important to say but your current work-in-progress, it can get hard. Or when you don’t have time every single day.

But see, this is fear speaking. And I’ve battled fear my whole life. But more than fear, I’ve battled resistance, and I’m still not certain why. Fear of the blank page. Fear of having nothing to say. Fear of not being good enough? Who knows. I could go on and on.

Marianne Williamson says it best:

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.

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us;
It’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

 

I’m a big fan of Ruth Soukup and her DoItScared brand. I took her test and it rated my biggest fear based on PESSIMISM. What? No way! I am not a pessimist at all. I’ve always been a believer of dreams and try to inspire others. And yet as I read, I noticed some tendencies that have really been hurting me lately. Her pessimist fear assessment says I’m afraid of adversity. I see hardships as a stopping stone, not a stepping stone, as if this hardship is there to stop me from going further. I haven’t always been that way but I see that in me now. And I can see it’s because I’ve battled a lot of disappointment in my life so now I struggle to see hopeful possibilities. “It probably won’t work out for me” isn’t something I’m proud to admit I tell myself even when I’m affirming positive qualities.

Wow, so I guess I am a pessimist after all here lately! Why bother writing this story, it isn’t going to sell. Why bother publishing this, marketing that. Goodness what a negative state I’ve been in without even realizing it. No wonder I’m against a block of resistance!

For me, I believe it’s a season I’m going through. My natural state isn’t pessimism, never has been, so I will push past it.  What about you? What fear holds you back?