Monday Morning Motivational Message - The Gift of Fear

How often are you afraid, every day, week, month?

According to a 2023 Gallup Poll, personal safety fear is at a three-decade high, with 40% of people saying they feared walking alone at night near their homes.

Fifty percent of Americans fear their car being stolen or broken into, 32% fear getting attacked while driving, 37% fear getting mugged, and 28% fear getting murdered.

Johns Hopkins Medicine estimates that about 19 million Americans have one or more phobias that range from mild to severe.

But what about the fear of being us? The fear that we're not good enough, smart enough, or capable enough?

The common term for this today is Imposter Syndrome. A 2024 University of Cincinnati study estimates that 80% of people will experience Imposter Syndrome at some time in their life.

The American Psychological Association defines Imposter Syndrome as: "...an ongoing fear that you're going to be 'found out" or unmasked as being incompetent."

Marianne Williamson, in her poem, Our Deepest Fear, writes about fear in a different way. She starts by saying:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us." 

She goes on...

"You playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."

Williamson concludes with...

"And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others." 

Next time you don't think you are enough, consider reading this poem by Marianne Williamson.

Please leave me a comment about how you use fear in your life to make you a stronger and better human being.