Friday, April 15, 2011

4/15/11—Facing our Fears

Today's Draw: Five of Bows from the Wildwood Tarot by Mark Ryan, John Matthews and Will Worthington. What are you afraid of? Change? Rejection? Or, on this hallowed day, the Tax Man? And what are you going to do about it?

The Five of Bows pictures the Cerne Abbas Giant holding a bow that represents the will. The word on the card is Empowerment. He comes to tell us that only by facing and defeating our fears can we become truly empowered and resilient.

There is a law of physics that says simply observing a particle, changes the particle. And it's this principle that comes into play with today's card. We cannot change what we are not aware of. And simply by becoming aware, we begin to change that which we observe. Then by focusing our will, we can transform the fear. If you want to move forward with anything—your personal life, your career, a weight loss program, a project—you will have to push past your comfort zone. And if you find yourself pushing AGAINST your comfort zone, that's where you'll find a fear. 

You can leave the fulfillment of your destiny to chance. Or you can achieve it by choice. That is the embodiment of Empowerment. But to get there, you will encounter fears. If you pull back to the eagle's eye view of life, facing fears IS our destiny. Or at least one of them. There's not a person alive who doesn't encounter this multiple times in our lives. But it's the big ones, the ones that hold our dreams at arm's length, that we most need to address. The normally trite, "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger" applies here. I mean, really, what's the worst that could happen? Some leaps are greater than others, but even if we "fail" (and there is no failure, only lessons) we still have choices. There is never just one possible consequence. Our fears tell us there is, but even if we lose it all, so to speak, there are plenty of ways to rebuild. The world doesn't end at "lose it all". "Lose it all" is not a permanent condition. But if you don't face your fears, you will likely be stuck with a more and more unsatisfactory status quo for your lack of effort. 

That said, today's fear IS the Tax Man for me...haha. As a self employed person, taxes are a bit more complicated. And as a disorganized business person as far as receipts go, it's even more complicated. And then, of course, there's the dreaded moment when I find out if I paid enough quarterlies to cover my bill or not. So I'm toying with the idea of an extension. I toyed with the same idea last year, but managed to file on time. So we'll see. I have the whole weekend to face my fears. Other fears that I normally have...fear of rejection and fear of change...I'm doing good on those these days. But it's a cycle, isn't it? Each new opportunity brings a new fear of failure. And if you learn to be bold and take your fears in stride, life will up the stakes. Because this is part of our human experience. This is what shows us how truly powerful we are.

3 comments:

  1. A few days ago I wrote down to first face my fear of rejection, then face my fear of snakes; or visa versa. I am doing better at rejection by putting myself out there. If I clean out my cellar someday, that will address my fear of snakes. As for the tax issue, remember an extension only extends the time to file not any payments due. Just think you could be sitting on a big refund!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good, so this is timely for you! If I don't file my taxes, I don't have pay any underpayment, right? Or wrong? That was my assumption. I know I still have to pay my quarterlies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, totally! And then there's whole thing about will you get along with your new neighbors and will the house fall apart the second you buy it...haha. However you, Joanne, are a conscious creator. So consider disempowering those fearful thoughts with five minutes of meditation on the feeling of "home" each day, whatever that means to you. That way you can be sure to create your desires instead of your fears. (I'm listening to Mike Dooley's Infinite Possibilities every time I get into my car, so I'm all stoked on the manifestation thing and reminded that manifesting a feeling is a far more accurate way of getting what you want than manifesting a "thing".)

    ReplyDelete