Be Brave

Ruthless Compassion Institute

So many of us live in fear, rather than living courageously. We make choices out of a desire to avoid things that are frightening or upsetting, as opposed to the desire to live fully & deeply. But those who live fearfully have smaller lives than those who take risks or challenge themselves in some way. We behave timidly in order to avoid suffering, but avoidance increases our suffering as it deprives us of consciousness, choice & power. The good news is that we can start by taking little risks, for example, facing a painful truth or speaking our feelings to someone we trust, & then build on this. The more we practice being emotionally brave, the more we'll be able to do it & the richer our lives will be.

 Video that I watched several times and want to watch again. 
http://scott-williams.ca/2013/10/25/be-brave/

KavinCoach explained to me how I lived a fear based life.  I couldn't comprehend it at first.  I moved cross country several times, embarked on several different careers, and had 6 children how could he say my life was fear based?  I was confused.  I didn't understand that the one I was running away from was myself.  Dissociation helped me to hide in plain sight.  I was terrified of making a mistake of any kind.  I dreaded my nights filled with nightmares.  I made choices all day long based on avoiding discomfort.  I didn't realize that my lack of feeling was the biggest hiding game of all.  Hiding from feeling any real emotion.  Emotions are messy by their very nature.  There are no cut and dry rules that can apply to emotions.  I am learning to live by a new set of rules made by me.  I am not sure how I am doing since you really can't measure emotional authenticity against a measuring stick.  Tears flowing are a complete give away that I am feeling emotions.  I am capable of laughing and crying at the same time.  Through my tears, I babble that I feel wonderful.  The 'feel good' people in the world want to designate emotions good and bad.  I learned that all of my emotions have value and benefit me, IF....you know there is always an if.... I listen to myself, respond to my needs and address the needs that generate the emotion.  Moving from a fear based to a faith based living required me to embrace my emotions and use them as I believe they are intended to work as warning signals, life enhancers, and all around game changers for the world I live in.  Emotions color my world with so much.  Be brave, there is a lot of living to accomplish by accepting all my emotions and embrace them.  My power is based in my ability to handle my emotions.  I control my emotions instead of my emotions, AKA fear, controlling me.