Fear comes to all of us at times, Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger; If people didn’t feel fear, they couldn’t protect themselves from legitimate threats. Fortunately, however since most fears are learned, fears can therefore, be unlearned. In this blog I am going to be looking at identifying our reactions to fear and how we can maybe respond in a different way.
Today we are talking about the 5 B’s: I learnt these 5 B’s from a good friend of mine Alli Worthington.
BUSY - Often when we are busy, we don’t consider our surroundings as much. We don’t take the time to observe what is going on around us and therefore when we face situations that cause us to fear or become anxious we go into automatic pilot. Busyness robs us of our mental capacity to make good decisions. On a busy day, I solely focus on the tasks so then when I get bad news (unexpected bill, unexpected news from the Drs, an argument erupts at work,) I don’t deal with it appropriately. This can result in either an anger outburst or we go inside ourselves. So let’s take time to consider what it looks like to slow down and spend time at Jesus feet. There is a story in the bible that talks about Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus and Martha who was busy in the kitchen. Martha became stressed and ultimately fearful that she wouldn’t get the food ready for Jesus. When Martha complained to Jesus he said “…...Mary has chosen what is better”. Slow down, chill out, and reduce fear.
BLAMESHIFT - Another default of ours when we become fearful is we shift the blame on someone else. So if you have done something wrong, said something out of place, acted in an inappropriate way, you need to OWN IT. Part of that is saying sorry and choosing to not pass the blame to something or someone else for FEAR of what others will think. People will respect you more for your honesty than for your perfection!
BINGE - When we are in a state of fear/anxiety we often want to escape in our minds and/or physically. What do you binge when you what to escape? Some will binge food, or drink or adventure. I have a tendency to binge social media. I can see an hour go by on instagram and facebook and not realise. Then when I try to come off it I feel more anxious than when I first went on.
BURY - When dealing with fear/anxiety often we will bury those thoughts, bury even the emotions and allow them to build up. Over time depending on the type of person you are this can result in withdrawal, depression and even suicidal thoughts or for others anger, aggression and violence. Face your fears - Ask the question WHAT IF? What is the worst thing that can happen and face it!
BROOD - The bible talks about “taking captive every thought and making it obedient to Christ. However often we allow our thoughts to take us captive. We allow thoughts into our mind and let them buzz around, if they are there for a period of time without us challenging them they take root and they become who we are. When the “you are worthless,” “you are less than,” or “you are incapable” thoughts come in immediately take those thoughts captive, because you are worth everything. Jesus died for you, you are more than and you are more than capable because you serve the God of the impossible.
Don’t let fear be something that takes away from the call that God has on your life. Allow yourself time to unlearn some of the fears that are crippling you and holding you back. Go head-first in tackling your fears.
Interested in going deeper? Contact me and let’s see how coaching can help!
. . .
KC