We always have two choices in life: face or fester. You can either face your fears and overcome them, or you can let them fester underneath the surface.

I have a dear friend who was the walking embodiment of fear. She was afraid of everything: ghosts, the water, even dogs. She told me she had “zero interest in spirituality,” but she let me teach her a simple meditation. She resisted a lot at first and couldn’t sit for very long. But slowly but surely, she made it to twenty minutes. Then, she slowly but surely started doing things that were very unlike her. She started taking haunted ghost tours. She took swimming lessons. And now, she even has a beautiful puppy. Then, the strangest thing started to happen, her doctor kept lowering her dosage of medicine for her hypothyroid. She’s now on the lowest dose and I doubt for much longer.

When fear festers, healing cannot happen. It stays under the surface, subtly affecting our decisions and our mood, until periodically it is triggered and rises to the surface manifesting in a number of different ways. Sometimes it will appear as anger and outbursts. Sometimes it manifests as self-destructive behavior or addiction. Other times it can show itself as anxiety or depression.

If we face our demons, our fears and our trauma, we allow ourselves to heal. It can be scary to look at what scares us. But this is the only way to look fear in the face and tell it to F off. It’s hard work, but it makes the rest of your life so much easier. I know you can do it!