Put the light on in the landing

Some Highlights of Chapter 2 in Running Scared

'Your Fears'

Rather than minimize your fears, find more of them. Expose them to the light of day because the more you find the more blessed you will be when you hear words of peace and comfort.

Control and certainty are myths.

Phobias

Heights? suffocation? crowds? terrorism? flying?

Dreams

What are your dreams saying? The content can be silly and inscrutable, but listen for the emotional tone of your dreams. What do they feel like? Being pursued? Missing deadlines? Spinning endless plates? Being exposed and embarrassed? Keep track of them and in the course of a week you will hear them speak

Physical Clues

e.g palpitations, sweaty palms, perspiration, tension headaches, clenched jaws, impotence, rapid breathing, loss of appetite, increased appetite, problems sleeping, high blood pressure...

Take a quick inventory of your physical tension. Start at the top of your head and go to your toes. Unless you are on the tropical beach you once imagined or in a backyard Jacuzzi (loads of those in Tipton), you will probably notice that your forehead and neck are tightened. Your arms are much more constricted than they need
be......

Stress

When we are aware that anxiety has registered at a physical level we call it stress.

Stress is saying that life is teetering on the brink, right at the farthest reaches of your ability to maintain some control.

Stress can also signify that there is something on your to-do list that will be inspected by others.

Anxiety and fear prefer to stay on the surface rather than linger to consider something more deeply. And you are too busy anyway. If you think about these things, you will just get farther behind.

Busy and Driven

Even when paralyzed by circumstances a stressed person is a driven person.

Depression

Listen carefully to depression and you often hear fear and anxiety.

Outside the covers is a world that is out of control with the potential for failure, rejection, and endless surprises we can't even imagine, so depression opts for paralysis.

Anger

A woman rages at her husband for coming home late with alcohol on his breath. Sue, there is the 'You are wrong' component. But there is also ' I am afraid you are losing interest in me. I am afraid you could be tempted by another woman. And when you add alcohol, I get even more afraid.'

The problem is compounded with men because men aren't supposed to be afraid. With no permission to discuss fears, men opt for anger. Sometimes their anger says, 'This is the only way I know to get some control in an out-of-control world.'

Overprotection

Today's parents were an under-protected lot. They grew up during a time when the divorce rate had spiked; they came home to empty houses. Not only were many of them self-parented, they also parented their parents, which means that
they had no parents. So naturally, they are protective now as parents, involved and exhausted. They are looking into preschools before their child is born because they sense that the wrong one could forever handicap his or her future. Fear has given birth to 'extreme parenting.' It looks like love, but it is love mingled with fear.

Superstitions

Do you have any? Ever scared that you will 'tempt fate'? {cricketers are especially terrible for this!}