As we have just recently celebrated Halloween I wanted to write about fear this week. Not the kind of fear or phobia that we might have for a large hairy spider but the type of fear that can sometime stop us from doing things e.g. a fear of flying.

I once remember excitedly telling my Mum about a horse riding and camping trip I’d planned to take in the Torres Del Paine region of Chile and instead of sharing my enthusiasm her first words were “but what if you break a leg”. To me, this was a strange comment to make and I pointed out that I could just as easily break a leg crossing the road.

If we stopped to think about all the possibilities of what may or may not go wrong in life when we wanted to embark on something new then the chances are we probably wouldn’t do anything.

So what is it that we are so afraid of and stops us from doing things? It seems that most of our fears stem from fear of failure and the unknown, both of which can be a big block for most of us. We like to keep within our comfort zones but by doing that it means we can sometimes become stuck never pushing the boundaries or trying new things. Surely it is better to have tried than not at all?

I know many people who want to do things, myself included, but are too scared and they wonder “what if”.

When we are children we have no fear, why should we?  We have our parents and other people to take care of us as we boldly explore our worlds, falling off our bikes, out of trees or diving into a swimming pool for the first time. We are totally fearless.

As we grow up and become more responsible for ourselves and others, we tend to lose our sense of adventure and begin to manifest our fears. These fears can be anything from fear of not being good enough, fear of failure, fear of letting go and being out of control, fear of being alone or abandoned or even a fear of flying. If we never face our fears they can sometimes paralyze us and can stop us living our lives to their full potential, thus foregoing our dreams and desires.   Fears can also limit our actions and our minds.

Louise Hay says that fear is a lack of trust in ourselves and because of this we don’t trust life. When we overcome our fears we are “taking a leap of faith”. The more we love and trust ourselves the more we will be supported.

We will always have fears but it’s how we choose to overcome and deal with them that counts. It’s about letting go and going with the flow.  So if you want to try a new hobby or change your job what’s stopping you?

“The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all”. Richard Branson

So my question to you is are you really living and embracing life or are there some fears that are holding you back in life?

Wishing all my readers a fearless week full of love, happiness and moving a step closer to fulfilling your dreams .

NB: Whilst drafting this week’s Blog the crash of the SpaceShipTwo happened. One of Richard Branson’s dreams has always been to develop space tourism, and referring to the accident he said “We owe it to our test pilots to find out what went wrong,” Branson said. “And once we find out what went wrong, if we can overcome it, we will make absolutely certain that the dream lives on.”