“A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien
fears
Thinking Out Loud: It’s Time to Practice the Art of Possibilities
Learning to Appreciate. A look at appreciative inquiry. Excerpts are taken from, Appreciative Inquiry Handbook (2003) by David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and Jacqueline Stravros.
Appreciative inquiry is inquiry into the art of the possible. p. 4
Note: Let’s stop thinking about how impossible something may be. When we begin to change our viewpoint and believe that everything is possible, suddenly, the impossible becomes possible. Illusionary fears stop us from considering possibilities. Our illusionary fears want us to play it safe. There is no safe place. There are no guarantees. When we combine our thinking of what is possible with others who are thinking the same way we create a generative atmosphere where new ideas and new thoughts arise. Don’t listen to the naysayers. Don’t listen to the fear mongers. Listen to a heart that tells you, yes, it is possible; go for it.
Feel Good Tip ~ Master Your Fears
Learning to Swim Upstream
Fears visit everyone. Some people give into their fears and their fears dominate their lives. They allow their fears to become their master. When fears become our master, happiness cannot penetrate the barriers erected by them. One way to become the master of our fears is take action against them. Salmon swim upstream to spawn. In the same way, what an irrational fears tells us what to do, we do the opposite. We swim upstream against the fear’s rushing waters. We soon learn the rushing waters become a trickle. We mastered the fear. The barriers preventing happiness disappear. Life is once again good.
What If . . .
What if I let go of all the fears that are holding me back from racing toward my dreams? I’ve met many folks who let go of their great dreams and spent most of their time creating great excuses as to why they didn’t chase them. One person told me he lived in the most beautiful part of the world, he couldn’t leave it. Another told me, he could have had his dream but he didn’t have the support to chase it. Another told me, it was too hard. Excuses, all of them. We can never reach our full potential or dreams until we let go of our fears, excuses, and created barriers. Is it time to let go of everything holding you back and racing full speed toward the destiny you were born to reach?
What If . . .
What if I acknowledged my fears and went ahead anyway? That’s courage. Some call it facing your fears. I think it’s a bit more than facing one’s fears. In acknowledging my fears, I take ownership for them. When I go ahead in spite of my fears, I take control of them. My fears may hang around, but they won’t control me.
Today’s Inspiration ~ Which is Leading You: Dreams or Fears?
“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”
~
Today’s Power Thought ~ Where are you Living?
Where are you living? Are you living in your hopes and dreams? Or, are you living in your fears and false limitations? You know where life is soaring and calling you. Shed your fears and false limitations as quickly as a snake sheds its skin.
Today’s Inspiration ~ Dance On
We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams.
Today’s Poem ~ Just Be Glad
Just Be Glad
James Whitcomb Riley
O heart of mine, we shouldn’t
Worry so!
What we’ve missed of calm we couldn’t
Have, you know!
What we’ve met of stormy pain,
And of sorrow’s driving rain,
We can better meet again,
If it blow!
We have erred in that dark hour
We have known,
When our tears fell with the shower,
All alone!—
Were not shine and shower blent
As the gracious Master meant?—
Let us temper our content
With His own.
For, we know, not every morrow
Can be sad;
So, forgetting all the sorrow
We have had,
Let us fold away our fears,
And put by our foolish tears,
And through all the coming years
Just be glad.
