Decades ago, I had a dream where I was walking on a beautiful beach. Eventually, I turned a corner, rounded a point, and encountered a nasty barricade of slippery rocks and embedded coiled barbed wire, with signs that said “Danger! Do Not Proceed.” It was at this point that I awoke.
I used to write down the myriad details I remembered of my dreams, attempting to parse some meaning from them. Eventually, I abandoned that approach and simply relaxed and asked myself what the overall emotional feeling was from the dream, what was its zeitgeist. I found that if I stilled my mind and allowed my feelings space to emerge at their own pace, my inner thoughts would give me valuable insight.
The message from this dream was that “my fears point the direction to my greatest growth opportunities.” While many fears are well founded and are legitimate efforts to protect us, other fears simply guard the status quo and protect us from the challenges we need to grow.
I often reflect on this insight as I plot and plan the future I wish to create, the directions I wish to go and grow.
“Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway,” by Susan Jeffers, is an excellent book for those wishing to surmount their fears.
Remember: Your fears often point the direction to your greatest growth opportunities.
Closing Quotes:
“Everything I’ve ever done was out of fear of being mediocre.” – Chet Atkins, guitarist and record producer
“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (also attributed to Mark Twain)
“Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.” – Bertolt Brecht, German poet, playwright, and theater director