Fear is a natural part of life. You try your best to find pleasure and avoid pain. Yet, this quest for peace and comfort can lead you to miss opportunities to experience amazing things, or find new virtues and strengths in yourself. Fear is based in a lack of trust that you will be OK and that you will be free from pain or discomfort. More often than not, only a small percentage of all the fears we entertain actually manifest into a problem. Bottom line, we worry way more than is necessary. So, how can we overcome fear?

Safe space

Create your sanctuary. Be it a home base, or somewhere else in the world, build a physical place where you feel safest. If your home, work or school feels unsafe, do your best to put yourself in a safe environment. Being physically safe is important in developing other forms of security.

A happy place

Find a happy place in your mind. Use your imagination and create a sanctuary inside yourself. If you cannot get to a secure physical space, or you are in an uncontrolled or unfamiliar environment, use your conscious and subconscious mind to create a sense of peace and order within you.

Have faith

Connect to your spiritual existence and your higher power. Ask for guidance and strength. Ask for courage or peace. Or, just ask for faith, hope and trust. Remember how blessed, protected and special you are. Remember everything happens in its own perfect way in its own perfect time.

Feel the feelings

Process and feel your feelings. Be with your fear in the moment. Just let the worry, anxiety or heaviness be with you. Don't feed the feelings or focus on them, just let them be. Then, let them go when they start to fade.

Meditation and prayer

Perform a structured meditation or prayer. Follow your normal steps and process. Make it a formal affair. You can focus on being at peace and in the presence of your higher power. Or in the emptiness of being beyond the mind and physical world. You don't need to ask for anything. In fact, you can pay your respects and thanks for all of your blessings, and concentrate on gratitude and appreciation. Give of yourself in these moments.

Possibilities

Remind yourself that experiences beyond the dangerous and harmful ones you are worrying about exist. Remember them. Think of all the positive potential in life. Think of all the things that can go right. Smile about them. Bask in them. Laugh about them.

Fear is a natural state for many. No matter how much you try to break out of the habit, you may find yourself slipping out of faith and back into fear. I used to worry so much about just moving from one grade to the next in elementary school I would make myself sick with crying spells. Talk about a worry-wart child. Yet, every year I excelled in school. My mother reminded me that for years prior I had met every challenge and done well. Finally, I started believing in myself. Even when I struggled in some of my early college classes, I kept my faith that, with effort and work, I would do well. And, I did.

Let go of fear and find your faith, your happy place, and the amazing possibilities and opportunities available in life.