My friend John has an expression for facing fear in a pro-active and powerful way…”Lean in.” I love this expression and metaphor. When he says this or I think about it, I actually see a mental image of myself physically leaning in, as if I’m in a wind tunnel leaning forward with all of my might so I won’t get blown over.

So often we run away, hide, or avoid our fears because they are scary, uncomfortable, embarrassing, and more. However, very little that means much to us in life shows up without any fear or resistance attached to it. What if we spent more time leaning into our fears and less energy running away from them? I think this would dramatically alter our lives.

One of the best things we can get good at in life is telling the truth about our fears and doubts. Everyone gets scared - it is part of being human. However, the issue with fear is often not the fear itself, but the resistance or denial of the fear that becomes a problem.

See if you can spend some time and energy today and this week leaning into your fears more. This means you admit them, own them, and take them head on. We all know how to transform our fear because we all have done it many times throughout our lives. Lean on others, talk to God, connect with that place within you that knows you can handle anything, and believe in yourself.

The more we lean in, the more we learn. When we are not afraid of our fears, we take back our power in a beautiful and courageous way. Will we still get scared? Of course we will. The point is not to get rid of our fear (which, by the way, will never happen until we die), the point is to create a relationship to our fear so that it does not stop us from living the life of our dreams.

Let’s all LEAN IN and trust that things will always work out…they always do!

Love,

Mike