Dancing with FEAR
Falling short sucks. We want to thrive. But we fear falling short because of the judgement and consequences that may await. Nobody wants to look a fool. We fear for good reason. It’s there to protect us.
However, that fear can do some unnecessary OVER-protecting. The challenge is NOT allowing fear to consume us so much that it holds us back from growth. Because it’s that fear that perpetuates exactly what we seek most to avoid: stagnation or decay. We need to understand fear to emerge from our safety zone, find our growth zone, and avoid the danger zone.
It’s worth examining: what is it exactly that you are afraid of & why?
Learning to dance with fear may feel like walking on fire, but often, we are entirely safe. We can blow up fear to be something huge in our heads, but out in reality, what you fear is different & not so threatening.
So much of what we love lies directly across this thing called fear.
What’s amazing is this: we can get there safely! We just need to change our relationship to fear through safe practice. We suggest a dance practice.
Do you fear judgement, public humiliation & loneliness? Great, we do too. That’s why we suggest dork dancing. The idea is simple, it involves dancing like a dork in front of others.
To do that, you sign up with a willingness to get judged. The challenge is maintaining your conviction and self-belief. In that challenge, you are relinquishing a need for approval. You are doing what you want, without caring what others think.
Dancing for many isn’t easy. So let’s think about that. What do you fear most about dancing and why? What’s your relationship to dance look like? Easy, difficult, depends?
Have you danced alone in your room? How about in front of others? Have you ever danced out in public in the middle of the day? Would you ever consider that? Yes, no, maybe so? Why or why not? What about doing that alone? What feelings does that idea evoke?
Everyday is an opportunity to dance with fear, and for us, we take that quite literally.
Start small. Turn on your music and practice #dorkdancing in the privacy of your room! When you feel ready, record and share with others. This can prepare you to one day dance out in public!
Dancing like a dork out in public, subjecting yourself to possible ridicule, isn’t easy. It’s not something people particularly wanted to do.
Why put yourself in harm's way like that? No, that’s scary. Yes, that’s scary.
But not all scary, difficult things are worth shying away from. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Dancing with fear is a skill that has the power to change beliefs & behaviors. It’s a skill worth practicing. Dance can help you establish a healthier relationship with fear, helping build courage. With dancing, self-confidence grows and that confidence carries into other things too.
So let’s do this and dance with FEAR. They tell us the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, and that is what get us dancing. Face Everything and Rise or Face Everything and Run. Pit Bull sings it best.
Dork Dancing depends entirely on charitable giving. We hope you may consider supporting. We offer some fun rewards too.