The What ifs 
There seems to be a lot of fear these days found in our use of What ifs- “what if this happens?” “What if this doesn’t happen?” I will use fear and worry interchangeably since they are linked. I used to not think about the fear behind those questions, knowingly, but it was and can still be a real part of my thoughts. If I am not careful it sneaks up on me. I remember hearing, “Never make a major decision when you are feeling fear.” Actually you could replace the word fear with many other words like angry, tired, upset but they all boil down to feeling afraid. For many, many years I made decisions while being filled by fear and the what ifs but I didn’t recognize them. I thought I was being cautious or planning ahead. Hindsight has shown me otherwise. I was actually making some big life decisions from the place of fear because I didn’t recognize the fear until afterwards. Well, as I read and study about these things I have become more aware of what the fear looks like. Lately, I ‘ve taken to read through every book that I can get my hands on by Dr. Joseph Murphy. I find his books so profound and uplifting, filling me with hope. And my latest read of his, talks about fear. Here are a few of his gems:
“Fear… has made more people cowards and failures, and forced more of them into mediocrity than anything else.”
“Fear…it is always something that has not happened yet– it is nonexistent. ”
” Fear and worry make us attract the very things we dread. ”
He then goes on to talk about faith vs. fear.
“Fear looks down and expects the worst; faith looks up and anticipates the best.”
“Fear always predicts failure; faith predicts success.”
He talks about replacing fearful thoughts, those what ifs, with positive thoughts and action and not giving the fear a foothold.
With this advice I am reminded of Abraham-Hicks’ advice- Wouldn’t it be nice if _________? Speaking to what you want or what you would love to happen. And the great metaphysical teachers go on to suggest saying “But what if this happened (that good thing you want) What if the seemingly impossible were possible? ( do not take no for an answer) What if you could do this or that? Our imagination gets used for such dire forecasts, which unfortunately, seems to come naturally. Like someone at work saying, ” The boss wants to see you.” Where does our mind go? Yes to the worst case scenario but you say, ” Most of the time it is.” And I say, could we change our imagination to head for the good places? It will take practice but as you continue to focus on the endless possibilities that you would love they will find their way to you.
So I want to challenge you- when the fear and what ifs come, and they will, turn them around by focusing on the good you want to see, the positive you do see and the endless possibilities for beauty that are all around you. And by constant review of these good and lovely things, you can turn your fear into faith.
