The Fear Zone

Lately I've been looking at how my fear behaves. In my work with the Hendricks I learned about the four f's..or the four main ways we deal with fear. They are in no particular order Freeze, Flee, Faint, and Fight. Basically fight or flight with a couple variations. Freeze is kinda like a deer in headlights(my personal favorite),faint is overwhelm or spacey feelings, "I'm confused" is the cry of the fainter. We each have our own combo plate so to speak. My first response is to freeze and as soon as I unthaw get the heck out of Dodge. Some people are fight first ask questions later. I've been exploring this for quite sometime and have found it so valuable to know that I'm afraid and how that looks.

In the last few weeks I've discovered that these also translate into behaviors. For instance I've discovered the procrastination is really a form of the Freeze response. I'm simply scared. It is so useful to name something what it really is. Many of us tend to judge ourselves as lazy or procrastinators , which is not helpful, in fact it keeps us repeating the same behaviors, whereas when we realize that we are afraid we can address that in a direct manner.

In fact science has now proven that simply naming the emotion we are feeling has a calming effect on the emotional center of the brain. More importantly we can now face the real issue, so there is a chance of creating movement. I notice when I do this I shift into taking action.

So my invitation this week is to take a look at your fear behaviors..i.e what is it you do instead of take the actions you know will create the results you are wanting. Some of you may go into the T.V zone, some of you might clean obsessively. When you notice one of these behaviors pause and say to yourself.."hmm I must be afraid." See if you feel a shift in your energy or behavior. Next time I will talk about some ways that I have learned to move through fear.