Fear can be overwhelming at times. It can halt us in our tracks, bringing us to a dead stop, even when we truly do not intend for it to have that effect on us. It can rob us of achieving our dreams and can make us act in ways we would never have if we simply were not afraid. As ironic as it may sound, it can even cause us to put up a wall that will completely block us from the one thing we desire most.

What I truly believe so many of us are missing is that fear is simply an emotion, a feeling. It is not real. It can only affect us to the degree that we let it.

But where does fear come from?

What I have come to learn is that fear originates in the Universe as an outer influence, rather than something that originates from within us. Fears are often even based on the interpretations of collective consciousness rather than any actual reality, and they are certainly more illusion than they are truth.

Even still, they are something that we bring into our existence regularly by allowing ourselves to resonate at that lower frequency and accepting it as truth in our lives, just as we allow other forms of negative energy to take hold in our energy field.

So the very simple and easy answer as we move forward with this knowing is not to accept fear as truth and not to allow it to control our existence and our decisions.

But is it really that easy? Not always.

The reason why is that fears do, in fact, serve a purpose for us at times, just as easily as they can hold us back. They were originally designed as a survival mechanism, letting us know we need to be more aware of something, so we can either “fight or flee.” They can let us know to be careful of being harmed. They can prevent us taking actions that may cause us difficulty. We are well aware of that, which is exactly why we heed these feelings that something bad may happen to us if we are not careful.

The problem is, though, that at the very same time, risk is often necessary for us to create forward movement in our lives. Giving in to fears, especially when it’s unnecessary to do so, can also cause us to attract more negative energy because we are aligning ourselves with all that is negative rather than the positive energies that bring good into our lives. I have most commonly seen giving in to fears lead to anxiety, anger, and inferiority, as well as a host of other negative emotions, which is bad because it multiplies our problems, bringing even more negativity into our lives, like a domino effect.

Our fears can also create difficulty in the manifestation and creation process. If we are too focused on our fears and worries, rather than the positive outcome we wish to create, we can actually thwart our own efforts by inadvertently focusing on the wrong outcome. This may not be what we intend, but it happens to us all the time, especially these days when things are moving faster than ever before. Without even trying, we can create a bad day that gets far out of our control much quicker than we realize simply by allowing ourselves to dwell on a bad thought such as anger or frustration for just a few minutes too long. It seems like all too often we give too much energy to the bad rather than to the good.

So how do we know when to listen to our fears and when not to?

Basically, if you find that you are modifying your actions purely out of fear or making decisions based on fears, and your fears are holding you back from creating the life you want as a result, that’s when it is simply not healthy. There is never anything wrong with paying attention to our intuitive feelings about fears and looking at situations more closely to analyze what is going on. There is always something to be learned by looking more closely at our situations and our feelings about them.

But when you find fear is holding you back from moving forward, that’s when it’s time to face it and deal with it – to stop giving it so much energy that it grows and causes you further problems in the future. That’s when it’s time to eradicate it from your life and your energy bodies, so you can move on with peace and joy, rather than making choices and taking actions in response to negative fear-based emotions.

In fact, the very best way to deal with fear is to take action and do something about it because it helps you to have forward movement while focusing on positive energies rather than the negative ones. That’s one of the ways I help clients – by clearing the negative energy that is causing or contributing to their fears so they can move beyond them and no longer be held back by them.

What is the best way to deal with fears?

There are many – clearing them, taking action, recognizing them for exactly what they are – illusion. More importantly, you can keep an open mind to the possibility that there may in fact be nothing to fear at all. Perhaps what appears as a fear is actually opening a new doorway of opportunity that has not yet revealed itself to you. Realize that every time you give into your fears, you are not only shutting down the possibility before you of what could be, you are also separating yourself with the illusion that you are separate and therefore alone, rather than part of the One greater existence.

So, no matter how you choose to handle your fears, either by simply facing them or taking some sort of action to conquer them, the most important thing you can do for yourself, especially as we move forward in 2012, is to find a way to deal with them so that they no longer control you, and instead you are in control of them.