February 5, 2012

You are here: Home / Archives for fear

What’s Sabotaging Your Inner Peace?

August 12, 2011 By Lena 5 Comments

zen rocks Inner peace is such a fragile thing. Like fine china, it doesn’t take much to shatter it, but when it’s taken care of it will last for a lifetime.

Unless of course, you lose or misplace it along the way.

It’s very easy to lose your inner peace. We are continually bombarded with distractions that stress us out and batter the walls of our peace-loving inner selves. If you’ve ever suffered from stress-related illnesses such as high blood pressure or heart disease you know how important having that peaceful place inside of you is. But it’s not just about keeping your blood pressure down or the heart attacks at bay….

Inner peace is important to everyone, not just those who use it to deal with illnesses. The ability to take a deep breath and draw on your own inner peace is an essential part of dealing with the stress that comes your way every day. Ironic, isn’t it, that the things that threaten to destroy it are the very things you rely on your inner peace to help you deal with.

So… What are these saboteurs of inner peace, and what can we do about them?

1. Feeling Anger or Resentment

A lot of negative energy and stress can be attributed to holding on to feelings of anger and/or resentment. When you’re angry you are definitely not feeling peaceful, so it’s best to find a way to let these feelings go. (Yes, I know it’s easier said than done.)

2. Resisting Change and Other Challenges

If we spend all our energy resisting the changes and other challenges that are a part of life, we pay for that resistance by losing our sense of inner peace. Finding a way to work with the change, looking for the positive feelings you can take out of it will go a long way toward re-establishing the peace that fighting the situation has destroyed.

3. Beating Yourself Up

Whether we notice we’re doing it or not, there are a lot of times when we expect way too much from ourselves. Expecting yourself to always be perfect and to never make a mistake is a sure way to erode any inner peace you might have had. As you learn to accept yourself, mistakes and all, your sense of peace and inner calm will return.

4. Regretting Things You Can’t Change

This goes somewhat hand in hand with beating yourself up. You can’t go back and change the past, so worrying about what’s already done is another way that you sabotage your sense of inner peace.

5. Giving In To Fear

Fear is another one of those insidious villains that steals our sense of peace. Whether it’s a fear of tangible things like heights and spiders, or a fear of intangible things like failure or success, giving in to fear will eventually rob you of every shred of inner peace you have. The only way around this is to work at and eventually overcome your fears, or accept that there are always things you will be afraid of and find a way to live with that.

With all of these negative influences on our lives, you may be wondering how anyone could achieve inner peace. The good thing is that once you become aware of what is stealing yoru sense of peace, you can work on eliminating those negative influences from your life.

As well, there are many ways you can go about introducing a sense of peace back into your life. These include using meditation, doing deep breathing exercises when you start to feel stressed, listening to music, or getting outside for a break to recharge.

The biggest thing to remember when it comes to regaining your inner peace, is to make time for yourself. Adding “me time” to your daily routine is a great way to ensure that your own sense of inner peace stays filled, ready for you to draw on when needed.

So… What’s sabotaging your inner peace, and how do you deal with it? Join in the discussion and leave a comment here.

Photo Credit: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Inner Peace Tagged With: , , ,

What Stops You From Living Your Passion?

September 20, 2010 By Lena 1 Comment

A popular question in many personal development books and courses is “What would you do if you knew it was impossible to fail?” The answers are as varied and individual as we are. And yet so many people, myself included, don’t choose to follow their dreams or live their life passion. And it’s sad to know that life could be so much more if only we were willing to take the risk.

So what is that holds so many people, myself included, from following their dreams and living their life passion?

A lot of the time, the reasons why people don’t follow their dreams can be found within their mindset. It is vital to success in any area of life that we believe in ourselves and our abilities. Even before we take the first step on the path to making our dreams reality, we must have a belief that succeess is ours for the taking.

But we don’t know it. Or we do know it, and then we let all those pesky self doubts creep in. We question. Our resources, finances, abilities, and sometimes even our intelligence all come under scrutiny, and are usually found wanting. And then we let all those self doubts stop us in our tracks, sometimes for years — sometimes even for a lifetime.

The main culprit in all of this is fear. Fear that we can’t do it; fear that we’ll look stupid for even trying; even fear that every thing will go smoothly and we’ll succeed!

There’s no doubt that going after your dreams is a scary proposition for most people. We get so used to our comfort zone, and it’s risky to move beyond. There’s a whole new world out there, and it can be a very scary place. But, as the saying goes, the most successful people are the ones who feel the fear and do it anyway.

The first step in living your passion is to get over the fear. If you let the fear stop you from taking action, you will never achieve your dreams. But, if you face your fears and take action then no matter when you start, you will live your passion and achieve the success you deserve.

What holds you back from living your passion? Leave a comment and join the discussion.

Filed Under: Life Passion Tagged With: , , , ,

When Creativity is like Parenting

January 19, 2010 By Lena Leave a Comment

1901sundaysunsetI was looking through a storage container of partially finished projects and products this afternoon, and I came to the conclusion that I have a serious problem.

I have a hard time letting go, especially of the things I’ve created.

I want to share them… really I do. But I don’t want to let go of them to the point that’s required for them to be of actual use to anyone else. And it’s not about control. It’s all about rejection.

I remember what it was like to be the kid no one liked. The one who got made fun of, was always left off the invitation lists, and was the last one picked for baseball every day. And it sucked. I was two years younger than everyone else thanks to the wonderful accelerated learning programs of the 1960s, and so in retrospect I can understand why I never really fit in socially but I wouldn’t wish that kind of rejection on my worst enemy. And I certainly wouldn’t wish it on any child of my own.

That’s when it dawned on me that I see creations in the same way as I see children. We can birth them, and nurture them until they’re fully grown. But then we have to set them free to make their own way in the world. They’ll still always be yours and a part of you, but they’ll lead their own lives and as creators we have to be able to accept that.

But it’s hard. As parents, we want our kids to be liked and accepted even though we know that won’t always be the case. As product creators, I think it’s much the same. We know that not everyone is going to like our creations, and we know that we don’t have the answers for every single person out there. Still, it’s hard not to be protective of your “babies” when they don’t garner the response you were expecting.

So where am I going with all this? Honestly, I’m not really sure yet. But I read this quote that Warren Whitlock posted on twitter earlier today:

“Do one thing every day that scares you” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

And my first thought was that putting a finished product up for sale is one thing that scares the crap out of me! I know that if I’m going to actually have the year I have planned for myself, then letting go of those finished creations and sharing them with the world is a big part of that. Now I just have to figure out how to do that.

Any suggestions? Leave a comment and share your thoughts. I’d love to hear them.

Have an incredible day!
Thanks for being here,
lena

PS… January’s issue of The Acorn Stash Newsletter is ready for download.

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: , , , , , ,