Overcoming Fear Of The Economic Crisis

Are you afraid of the current economic crisis? If so, it’s no wonder considering that we’re being bombarded with bad news. Yet we know that whatever we focus on increases. So we are well-advised to overcome not only fear of the economic crisis, but all other fears.

Yet fearlessness is not something that can be gained through snapping our fingers. Fearlessness requires adopting certain ideas and reinforcing them.  So if you are feeling fears of any kind that are making you miserable or threatening to overwhelm you, then you must devise a strategy so you can, at least, manage those fears.

Here are 12 sure-fire ways in which you can help yourself feel better.

PRAYER

Prayer, certainly, is a frontline defense. Having seen its effects, I am a big advocate of prayer.

Spend half an hour in concentrated prayer each day and you will feel uplifted and strengthened.

Just be sure that your prayers affirm what you want. If you are concerned about finances, then find or create prayers that affirm that you and your family are safe, that your mind is clear and unafraid, that God is safely guiding you through this difficult period, that you have a good relationship with money, and that any problems with money disappear into the nothingness from which they came. (Be careful you are not using your prayer time to make a mantra of your fears or to gripe.)

Do not be afraid to speak your positive prayers and put the emotion of gratitude behind them. Do everything you can to promote belief in the prayers you are speaking and in the positive reality you are asking God to create through them.

Be sure to include the entire world in your prayers. Affirm safety and abundance for everyone in your prayers and there is no way that you will be left out.

If nothing else, repeat The Lord’s Prayer slowly and with reverence. There is great power in it.

MEDITATION

Give your mind some blessed relief through the silence of meditation. Take a class. Google “meditation” and find a technique on the Internet. Or download my prayer book and read my instructions on how to meditate in the introduction to the last chapter, entitled Spirituality.

FRIENDS

Friendship is a great deterent to fear. Compassionate friends and acquaintances, besides blessing us with their companionship, conversation and laughter, help us realize we are “okay.” They rescue us from the distorted, defensive thinking that extreme loneliness, insecurity and alienation can bring. It’s hard to feel that all is lost when we have good friends ready to go through thick and thin with us.

Friends also provide a sounding board. While we never like to hear that we are “getting carried away” in our fears or angry reactions concerning other people, most of us – at one time or another in our lives – will need a calmer perspective on a person or situation.

Friends with similar goals and who are, themselves, striving to walk in fearlessness love, will serve as our cheerleaders as we will serve as cheerleaders for them.

We can celebrate our successes together and act as witnesses to confessions when we have not behaved as well as we would have liked.

So one strategy for achieving fearlessness is to cultivate friendships with others who also want to become fearless.

INSPIRATIONAL MATERIALS

Since the mind naturally gravitates toward fearful thinking, we all need to expose our minds daily to words, music and/or art that lifts our thoughts to something higher. A journey toward fearlessness must, therefore, include inspirational materials.

Choose books, music, performances, and film (to include documentaries) that reinforce who you want to be and inspire you to keep going. In addition to materials that can be be borrowed from libraries and churches, check out all that is available across the Internet.

ROLE MODELS

Seek out role models, whether living or deceased. Do a Google search for “role models for fearlessness” and see what you get. You may decide to put up a picture of Mohandas Gandhi to remind you of your calling. Or you may find humble examples of fearlessness in modern society that inspire you, such as Jean Sarah Rohe.

Bottom line, this is your life. Chose the role model who stirs your heart and will keep you on the path when the road gets rough. He or she will inspire you to remember why fearlessness is preferable to being fearful and why forgiveness is the path to travel as opposed to holding resentments or seeking revenge.

ORGANIZATIONS

Seek out those organizations and support groups whose goals include the embodiment of forgiveness and love, even if those organizations have nothing to do with your religion or embrace a different deity. Bottom line, you need support. So seek out like-minded, fearless people wherever they congregate.

MENTORS/TEACHERS/COACHES

Seeing a mentor or coach even twice a year for a “check in” can be invaluable. Don’t be afraid to seek out those who make it their business to lead and inspire others.

EXERCISE

I’m convinced that most of the depression we experience has to do with our sedentary lifestyles. You would be surprised at how exercise clears the mind and resets the emotions. Take a brisk walk. Go iceskating or sledding. Get out of the house and out of breath for at least twenty minutes three times a week.

TURN OFF THE TELEVISION AND GET MORE SLEEP

Most people work all week and struggle with the demands of home and family. They often will flop in front of the television or Internet trying to gather strength to go do the next thing, then sit there in a half-trance for hours, not getting anything done, but not sleeping or resting either. As a result, most Americans are chronically sleep deprived.

Don’t do this to yourself. Instead of sitting down in front of the television or computer, go to bed.

Give yourself the luxury of getting a good night’s sleep or making love. It will do you a world of good.

GET SOME FUN IN YOUR LIFE

Find something that’s fun to do and do it at least once a week. Typically, this will involve interacting with other people in some way and laughing with them.

Maybe you love bowling or singing. Maybe it’s photography or painting. Maybe you’d shine at Toastmasters. Maybe you will become a “born again jogger” or bicylist. Maybe you’d love darts or bellydancing. The world is full of activities. There is one you would love to do. Find it. You can’t feel fear when you’re having fun.

LAUGH

Laughter is the greatest enemy of fear. Rent a Charlie Chaplin film or something you really find funny. Better yet, invite friends over to watch it with you.

SELF-HELP/COUNSELORS

Lastly, if you feel it is your path, explore your fears in greater depth. Whether you buy a self-help book, join a support group that addresses a specific fear, or you seek out a counselor, an exposed fear is often a healed fear.

As Marie Curie said, “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.”

May God fill you with His fearless love now and forever.