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Greetings,
Welcome to LifeWork Letter!
In this issue, our topic is Fear. These are
challenging times. And the media is milking them for
all they can. What better way to sell newspapers,
magazines, and TV spots than to dwell on disasters,
catatrophes, plagues, and all manner of breaking
news stories. Just look at our headline stories -
economic recession, war on several fronts, swine flu
and other deadly diseases, the ever-present threat of
global warming and climate change. It goes on and
on.
And what is the result of all this news
hype - FEAR! Just what we don't need - fear, anxiety,
panic. As Franklin D. Roosevelt so aptly pointed
out, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself."
So, let us delve into this topic of fear just a little. What
IS fear, exactly? When is fear truly a useful emotion to
have, and when is it NOT? What is the opposite of
fear? And what is the antidote for fear?
As always, you are invited to visit our Life
Coaching Blog for the latest articles on life,
career, and business transitions and related topics.
Yours in love, peace, and joy,
Connie
| Theme Quotes |
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Death is not the biggest fear we have; our
biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive -- the risk to
be alive and express what we really are.
- Don Miguel Ruiz
Every time we choose safety, we reinforce
fear.
- Cheri Huber
Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's
where the fruit is..
- H. Jackson Browne
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by
every experience in which you really stop to look fear in
the face. You must do the thing which you think you
cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
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| Fear and Its Many Faces |
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This article appears in its entirety in the Blog article,
Fear and Its Many
Faces, published April 30, 2009.
What IS fear?
We all know that fear is an emotion - one of the
most basic and primal of emotions. And we know that
this emotion comes as a response to a stimulus of
some kind and creates a group of physiological
responses in our body that stimulates a series of
physical responses to occur. Now, let us take a
deeper look.
To read the entire article, click here.
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| The Flip Side(s) of Fear |
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What intrigues me more than the topic of Fear is the
question, what is the opposite of fear?
According to
Thesaurus.com | , some antonymns of fear are:
bravery, courage, fearlessness, heroism, and
unconcern.
To these, I would add these others:
- Peacefulness
- Calm
- Love
- Excitement
- Joy
- Harmony
None of the states on the bulleted list can exist when
fear is present, except, possibly, excitement. And,
conversely, fear cannot exist when many of these are
present, especially love, joy, peacefulness, calm, and
harmony.
Fear can, of course, exist alongside
excitement, courage, bravery, or heroism. These are
not mutually exclusive.
Once we have identified the flip side(s) of fear, we can
begin to create antidotes to irrational, or false, fears.
This is the subject of the following article.
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| Ten Antidotes to Fear |
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Now that we have a clearer idea of what fear is, and
what the flip side(s) of fear are, we can develop tools
and strategies that will help us to decrease the
amount of irrational, ungrounded, false fear that
sabotages our lives - our health, relationships, work,
creativity, happiness, fulfillment - while continuing to
respect and value rational fear as an appropriate
response to real danger.
Here is my list of 10 Antidotes to Fear:
- Learn to distinguish between Real Fear and
False Fear. Respect the former and eliminate the
latter.
- Stay in the Now. Real danger occurs in the
present moment, not in the past or in the future. In any
situation that causes you discomfort or alarm, ask
yourself, am I in any danger is THIS moment? Almost
always, the answer will be NO.
- Meditate to calm your mind. Meditation
trains the mind to be in the moment and to be
calm.
- Manage your thoughts. Stay positive.
Examine your beliefs and discard outmoded,
irrational, and disempowering ones.
- Work with the Law of Attraction. This law
states, Whatever you think about, you will attract to you.
You can choose to attract fearful events or happy,
peaceful, empowering ones. It's all in your mind.
- Focus on love, peace, and joy. These are
the flowers in the garden of life and they can crowd out
the weeds of fear. You are the gardener.
- Minimize your exposure to the news. While
it is always valuable to be informed, the news media
does us a great disservice by over-hyping bad news
while minimizing good news stories.
- Focus on the solution rather than the
problem. Too many of us dwell on the problem,
rather than finding creative and win-win solutions.
Time to reverse this.
- Take action. Fear can paralyze us.
Breaking through fear is amazingly empowering and
energizing. As Eleanor Roosevelt has said, "You must
do the thing you think you cannot do."
- Engage your courage. Feel the fear and
do it anyway.
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| Risk-Tolerance and Entrepreneurship |
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Excerpted from Connie's Blog article,
Entrepreneurship Series: Risk
Tolerance, posted September 28, 2008:
Entrepreneurs, by nature, must be risk takers. How
much risk are YOU willing to take? Contrary to popular
belief, the most successful entrepreneurs are not over-
the-top risk takers.
Here's what Kathleen Allen, author of Entrepreneurship for
Dummies says about risk-taking and
entrepreneurship:
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| Overcoming Fear - Susan Boyle Sings Out |
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The latest YouTube sensation is the widely circulated
video of unemployed and frumpy Scottish amateur
singer, Susan Boyle, age 47, auditioning for
Britian's Got Talent (the British version of
American Idol, with the feared Simon Cowell as
the chief judge) on April 11, 2009.
Susan Boyle reminds us that many of our fears are
unfounded, and when we gather our courage, take
action, and take a risk, our courage is often
rewarded - sometimes beyond imagining.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Enjoy listening to...
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| Just For Fun - The Complete List of Phobias |
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How do I fear thee? Let me count the ways....
-
(With apologies to Shakespeare.)
According to the Merriam-Webster
Dictionary, a phobia is defined as "an
exaggerated usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a
particular object, class of objects, or situation."
How's this for an interesting fear:
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words!)
To my surprise, there are many Internet sites that
provide a list of fears or phobias. And there are
hundreds of identified and named phobias. Phobia
(Q) (aka Phobiaq.com) appears to be one of the most
conscientious and medically-based
sites.
Check it out!
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| Resources - Recommended Reading |
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The books on this list approach the topic of Fear from
several different perspectives, including cultural,
psychological, scientific, and spiritual. Enjoy!
- Feel the Fear...and Do It Anyway, by
Susan Jeffers. Ballantine Books, 2006.
- Love Is Letting Go of Fear, by
Gerald G. Jampolsky. Celestial Arts, 2004.
- No Death, No Fear, by Thich Nhat
Hanh. Riverhead Trade, 2003.
- The Courage Code, by Megan
Raphael & Jennifer Byron. Utopia Press, 2006.
- The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are
Afraid of the Wrong Things, by Barry Glassner.
Basic Books, 2000.
- The Dance of Fear: Rising About Anxiety,
Fear, and Shame to Be Your Best and Bravest
Self, by Harriet Lerner. Harper Paperbacks,
2005.
- The Gift of Fear, by Gavin De
Becker. Dell, 1999.
- The Law of Attraction: The Basics of the
Teachings of Abraham, by Esther and Jerry
Hicks. Hay House, 2006.
- The Mastery of Love, by Don Miguel
Ruiz. Amber-Allen Publishing, 2002.
- The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the
Things We Shouldn't -- and Put Ourselves in Greater
Danger, by Daniel Gardner. Dutton Adult,
2008.
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Yes, I've joined the Twittering throng! Follow my
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| About Our Monthly E-Newsletter |
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LifeWork Letter is a complimentary monthly
e-Newsletter from Connie Komack and LifeWork
Enterprises, with tips, quotes, and short articles
designed to enrich, empower, and forward the
growth of your life, career, or business.
Feel free to share this newsletter with others.
It is easy to do by clicking on the forward
email link at the bottom of this newsletter.
As always, I invite you to visit my blog site
and to read the articles on transition, change, and re-
designing your life that are posted there.
Thank you for reading my newsletter and/or blog
articles. Your readership is most appreciated and
valued. I hear from many of you each month, and I
always enjoy and benefit from your feedback. So
please keep it coming.
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| Designing Your Life Workbook |
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Coach yourself to your ideal life or career using our
carefully crafted manual, Designing Your Life:
A Life/Work Empowerment Program. Give a
copy to a friend, colleague, or loved one as a gift.
Our Price:
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I believe that true happiness and fulfillment comes to
us when we know who we are, when we are
comfortable and confident living in our own skin,
when we know what we want from Life, and when
we focus our best efforts on going for our dream -
whatever that may be. Whether you are an individual
or a business, I support you in this quest.
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