Feeling stuck in fear?

How do you move through fear?

Because when it comes down to it, fear is most likely at the heart of everything and anything that is holding you back from whatever it is you feel held back from. You know that feeling? That there is more for you? More to experience, realize, learn, and become? More adventures, fun, joy? More pleasure, connection, community? More grit, courage, and wisdom? More of it all?

If this is an abundant world and life, and the scriptures highly suggest that it is, then why do we keep ourselves from the abundance of it all?

When people hear the word "abundance," I think what many of them hear is gluttony, greed, material and financial wealth, a stockpile of things that make them feel safe. But that’s not what abundance is, and a stockpile of things can only ever give the illusion of safety.

I believe abundance speaks more of the creative energy that the earth and all that fills it is made with than the size of bank accounts and houses. We’re never truly stuck; we’re never truly at the end; there is always more to learn, become, solve, be, discover… there is enough for everyone, and there is more where that came from. Abundance.

Fear says there isn’t, that this is a zero-sum game, that there are winners and losers, and you might end up being the loser. Fear says that it will run out, you can miss out, you might not be picked.

Fear tips you over into a trauma response - flight, fight, freeze, or fawn; a place where creativity is minimized and abundance forgotten - you’re simply trying to survive.

Fear keeps you from experiencing abundance, that something more that waits for you on the other side of this persistent and seemingly unrelenting fear.

Even though it seems like what you need to climb the walls of your fear and enter the land beyond is courage, it’s actually not where you start. Courage will come; it’s a part of it, and you already have it in you, however unrealized or forgotten it may be. To face these fears, to enter abundance, to live a life you feel you were made for, what you need is curiosity.

Jesus once said to his friends,

“Let all the little children come to me and never hinder them! Don’t you know that God’s kingdom exists for such as these? Listen to the truth I speak: Whoever does not open their arms to receive God’s kingdom like a teachable child will never enter it.”

Small children don’t know what’s coming next. They’re yet to build a framework of expectation and perception; they’re largely unhindered by worry and fear because they’re still discovering it all. Generally speaking, our little ones view the world with a sense of wonder and curiosity, more than they do of fear and worry. And unless we can become childlike in our sense of possibility and curiosity, we’ll find it hard to enter the Kingdom of God; we’ll find it hard to live the life we were created for, the one we know exists for us on the other side of this fear.

Curiosity is something that you practice, which is to say, it’s something that you can try again and again and again. No limits. No ceilings. You can’t run out of tokens when it comes to practicing curiosity. All you do is deepen the practice the more you try, no matter how things go.

Curiosity is the antidote for fear. It is the birthplace of creativity. It is the energy of problem-solving. It is the matter of abundance. It is the substance of grace and mercy, compassion and healing. It’s what brings you back to childlike hunger (not childish ignorance). It leads you to the state of wonder, right through the gates of The Kingdom.

How do you move through fear? Curiosity stretches its hand towards you, ready to show you the way.

Mindful Prompt:

“Curiosity only does one thing, and that is to give. And what it gives you are clues on the incredible scavenger hunt of your life.” - Liz Gilbert.

I’d love to see you in the App, xo

Liz Milani
Instagram: @thepracticeco 

From this week’s series titled "Building a Curiosity Practice," with a subscription in the App. Hope to see you there.