MKE Week 4 – That Four-Letter “F” Word

MKE Week 4 – That four letter F word

I love acronyms, to date, the best acronym I have heard for the word fear is:

False Expectations Appearing Real.

As we walk along the path called life, the situations that we encounter make us who we are. I consider these all to be the character-building blocks of the inner and outer ‘me’. We are taught at an early age about self-preservation and how we are to avoid the things that can hurt us:

-Stay away from the fire so you do not get burnt.

-Do your homework or you will fail.

-Do it the way I tell you or it will not work.

-Stay away from strangers because they want to hurt you

These are some examples of how we have been taught to shelter ourselves from the unknown using ‘fear’ as justification. While there is such a thing as healthy fear, all fear comes with hidden consequences.

-Has this fear kept me from getting burnt? Yes… but the fire did not keep me warm.

-Did this fear get my homework done? Yes… but I didn’t understand what I was being taught.

-Did I do it the way I was told? Yes… but I couldn’t use my creative mind to seek other options.

-Did this fear keep me away from strangers? Yes… but how many good people did I miss out on getting to know?

Our subby has been programmed by our brain to see all fear as real, and thru habit it has steered us in a direction which has kept far too many of us from becoming the most awesome person that we are meant to be.

The MKE experience, so far, has shown me ways to reprogram that false expectation appearing real using subby. As I continue to work on changing these habits, I change these false expectations into real opportunity. The fire that I once believed could burn me is now the same fire that is giving me warmth, and already, I have been able to make strangers into acquaintances and/or friends. I look forward to a life that allows me to completely throw the false out and seize the day fearlessly. It takes work and determination, but it is soooooooooo worth it.