America’s Biggest Fear
/Contrary to popular belief, America’s number one fear is neither death nor public speaking. Nosiree .. America’s deepest fear is CHANGE. Marianne Williamson, from her book, A Return To Love, and infamously delivered as a speech by Nelson Mandela for his 1994 inauguration speech, said that, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” With this in mind, when we ask ourselves why we might be afraid of our tremendous power, all kinds of possible answers cascade in .. “I will have to leave my family status quo (will I be rejected?),” “I will lose the peace and tranquility I have in my life,” “I won’t recognize myself or my life,” “I can’t possibly deserve to be that great,” ALL of which indicate a fear of the CHANGES such a radically positive ongoing experience would bring to our lives.
Why It Doesn’t Work To Be Afraid Of Change
First and foremost, it seems pretty clear that anyone living in this time of radical and unavoidable change, knew what they were getting into before deciding to come here. Seldom in history has there been such tumultuous change in the air, water, earth and fires of our planet. It richly reminds me of the book series, The Clan Of The Cave Bear, by Jean Auel .. a series from prehistoric times when Neanderthals were naturally selecting out as early Homo Sapiens were naturally selecting into the forefront of every day society. What we are living now is profoundly similar in that we seem to be going from a predominantly ‘five-sensory’ (footnote Gary Zukov’s, Seat Of The Soul, here) perspective of How Life Works (meaning if we can see, hear, feel, taste, and/or smell it, then, and only then, can it possibly be ‘real’) to a ‘multi-sensory’ perspective, meaning we are now privy to HOW TO work with guidance (messages, intuitions, instincts) from Infinite Intelligence in ways that previously only priests, monks, and highly revered spiritual teachers were perceived to be able to do.
Talk about radical change!
The truth is, this change has been brewing for quite some time. Caroline Myss, in her brilliant series entitled Spiritual Madness, addressed the beginnings of this shift back in the early 90’s. It is now, however, that we, as a collective, are finally actually LIVING these changes in ways we never imagined possible.
This is no small deal. It’s happening and there is no turning back. To resist it means certain pain, conflict, and suffering. This difference was epitomized in the tone of the GOP National Convention vs. the tone of the Democratic one. Why does it not work to be afraid of change? To be afraid means to necessarily have to resist what is happening. Life is far more like a river than it is like a rock. The sooner we learn to embrace that everything (and I mean everything) is impermanent, the sooner we will be able to give ourselves permission to embrace our moment-to-moment experiences with gusto, glee, radical acceptance, and yes, tremendous joy. If you’d like to know what side of this divide you fall on, ask yourself whether would you rather be angry, defensive, divided, critical and afraid .. Or compassionate, caring, hopeful, inclusive, and confident.
The answer seems simple to me.
HOW TO Embrace Change
Warning: This will take some getting used to! Doing things differently can be disorienting .. even exhausting, at first. The exhaustion is simply one’s subconscious ordering-of-the-world resisting what it does not know. The disorientation is simply a normal reaction to anything new. We are leaving one ‘order’ to get to the next level up. To do this we must, necessarily, go into chaos for a short time (the length of time will depend on how willing you are to embrace and allow it). We get comfortable as we become familiar. As our new changes become more practiced, our disorientation turns to excitement, expansion, freedom, glory, and delight. Aliveness increases. Possibilities become more palpable, more plausible and, therefore, more DO-able, which is the whole idea (can we possibly insert a little light bulb emoticon here?).
We start small, as sustainable change is, by nature, incremental (which means if we take it one slow sustainable step at a time, we WILL get where we are wanting to go). Start with responding to these prompts (I strongly suggest either typing or writing these out by hand.):
- What is something that is NOT working in my life? (IE: I don’t have enough money. My relationship is strained. My boss keeps undermining me.)
- What would I rather be experiencing? (IE: I am loving the influx of money in my life. My relationship is harmonious and nourishing. My work environment is inspiring, stimulating, supportive, and fun.) (This response should make you smile!)
- What might this look like in my world? (This response will be a little lengthier than the others .. please feel free to use as much detail as possible, including how you will FEEL, how it will effect choices you make, and how it might effect others. The more you speak in First Person Present, the more potent your creation will be. IE: I awaken and sign on to my bank account to see balances in each of my accounts that REALLY please me ☺ I go on to gleefully pay my bills, so happy to have so much money funding my really fun life. OR, I awaken in my luxuriously comfortable bed to the embrace of my loved one tenderly whispering how much s/he adores my body, my heart, my mind, and my soul. I can tell it’s going to be a nourishingly great day. OR, I get up in the morning filled with gratitude for the richly fulfilling job I get to go to every day. I know that today I will change lives for the better as I engage with my work team to spark the new ideas and/or build the new creations I have always known I am here to create!)
- Where have I experienced this sort of positivity and abundance in my life already, past or present? (IE: Those months last year when I had things really flowing (* be careful not to add what happened to stop the flow). When my friend gave me some money to help me out and I had enough to get my car fixed. OR, When we first go married, we had SO much loving fun! OR even, Those weeks when the boss was out of town and work flowed SO beautifully.)
If you actually take the time to fill out the answers to these questions, you will have the opportunity to experience what it feels like to embrace something better than what you may be living now. The only way to change something is to .. well, to CHANGE something! I heartily support you in trying this in the privacy of your own heart and mind. It is a cultivated comfort for sure that I am certain you can accomplish with a little bit of willingness and effort. The times they are a-changin’ .. it really is time for all of us to hop on the Change Train and ride, ride, ride!
xoxo, Kate
Kate Satten is a Personal Trainer for the Heart & Soul. In our culture, where the focus is so heavily weighted on the mind and physical body,. Kate helps to bring balance and healthy perspective to your life by turning you on to the places where your system is begging you to wake up.
Kate WELCOMES feedback and questions as long as they are civil and respectful of everyone’s perspectives. Any and all blaming, shaming, and/or offensive language will be promptly removed from this site.
