No wonder fear shoots through our veins, constricting our blood flow and shutting down our creative energy — we are in survival mode.
If our mantra this spring has been to laugh more, a worthy corollary we would like to embrace is to fear LESS. From political pundit and author Arianna Huffington, some motivational words from her new book, which she wrote for her two teenage daughters.
From “On Becoming Fearless… in Love, Work and Life:”
“Beyond the major moments of fear in our lives, there are many other times we sacrifice our personal truth to go along, be approved of, or just plain be “nice.” Because despite all our advances, there’s still a huge premium on women being “accommodating” and “team players” who don’t “rock the boat.” As Marlo Thomas once said, ”A man has to be Joe McCarthy to be called ruthless. All a woman has to do is put you on hold.” 
How Fear Limits Us
“To live in fear is the worst form of insult to our true selves… To prevent others from shutting us down, we do it for them. Trapped by our own fears, we then pretend that we’re incapable of having what we want, forever waiting for others to give us permission to start living. Pretty soon, we start to believe this is the only way.
“So, ironically, the woman who appears well adapted may be the one who has simply become most comfortable being governed by her fears, while the “neurotic” one is still gamely struggling to reach fearlessness.”
Mastering Fear
“Fearlessness is not the absence of fear. Rather, it’s the mastery of fear. We will never completely eliminate fear from our lives, but we can definitely get to the point where our fears do not stop us from daring to think new thoughts, try new things, take risks, fail, start again, and be happy.
“Fearlessness is about getting up one more time than we fall down. The more comfortable we are with the possibility of falling down, the less worried we are of what people will think if and when we do, the less judgmental of ourselves we are every time we make a mistake, the more fearless we will be, and the easier our journey will become… Since fear is such a primal reaction, making the choice to move forward despite fear is an evolved decision that transcends our animal nature.
“I have my own key to overcoming fear. I look for the still center in my life and in my self, the place that is not susceptible to life’s constant ups and downs. It doesn’t mean that I don’t lose my head and that I wouldn’t rather have success and praise than failure and criticism, but it does mean that I can find my way back to that center, that secure structure of inner support, so that all my negative emotions, and especially my fears, become opportunities to achieve fearlessness. If we can find that greater inner freedom and strength, then we can evolve from a fearful state of living to a state of freedom, trust, and happiness.
“We have so much potential, yet we hold ourselves back. If my daughters, and women of all ages, are to take their rightful place in society, they must become fearless.”
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