In the body — your most powerful, portable divination tool — it can be difficult to distinguish between the discomfort of fear versus excitement. In order to grow, to expand, to develop, to pursue a higher calling or to manifest great change, feeling some discomfort is inevitable. Especially in the context of taking on a Big Goal, being nudged outside your Comfort Zone is more the spirit of Ally than Warning.
How can you tell the difference between fear and butterflies?
When you start to doubt and wonder:
- “What if this isn’t intuition…?”
- “What if the fearful feelings are actually warnings that I should NOT go forward in this direction…?”
Fear, anxiety, warnings, and excitement can feel emotionally and physically similar.
Ask yourself this:
“Assuming that I can totally and fully pull [this] off, will my life be better because of it?”
- If the answer is most likely “Yes,” then the butterflies are your allies. That’s not fear — that’s excitement and the Call to stretch yourself.
- If the answer is likely “No, this action is not in alignment with where I ultimately want to go” then indeed your gut may be communicating an alarm bell, a warning, a flashing yellow light that says “Reconsider.”
The path you are most meant to take will generally unfold for you, as you engage the Next Obvious Step, but that doesn’t automatically mean it’s effortless. If you are well into your mission — if you are too far in to go back, and going forward is just as likely to be a Way Out — before you assume that you have encountered a true block that equals a dead end, stop and re-evaluate.
Restrictions and limitations can often be very effective prompts for innovation and creative thinking.
“If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. Vincent Van Gogh
Wonderful reminder and great advice. Thank you for blogging it!
Hi Slade,
Both you and Vincent seem to be sharing good advice, today in particular, it actually matched my daily horoscope’s suggestions to a T.
Love it when things are spookily resonant, having had all my childhood birthday parties on Halloween, despite the fact it isn’t my birthday. I do carry those memories, feelings and energy of the delicate masks that were not totally concealing, otherworld communications, ghostly but benevolent images, with me still.
Interesting where this post took me, too. TY
GREAT posting, Slade.
Perfect.
Slade,
Your last three newsletters have been exceptionally meaningful to me. Thank you for that timing.
I find myself at a huge crossroad in my life. For once, there really are only two very distinct paths to choose from, and I have been sitting in the discomfort zone, or on the knives edge for far too long. It’s not healthy.
The problem is, there is at least one negative caveat to each pathway that I’m not sure how to deal with, and therefor cannot safely predict the outcome of my choice. Normally this would just be a matter of choosing the path of least resistance; but at this point (and for a long time now) the paths are very balanced.
Once I choose a path, though, there will be NO turning back. The choice will be made, for better of for worse (no I am not talking of getting married. There was no pun intended).
What can I do in this situation? I always value your advice.
Oh, let me just add that aside from trying to be open to signs in my life, I have no comm line open with my spirit guides, so asking them directly really isn’t an option.
Thank you for what you do!
Great article, as always, Slade! You know I’m a fan of living with one foot outside of my comfort zone!
I find that my fear storms are almost always inner resistance to the path I’m called to. It’s amazing how, when we act in spite of fear, we find the path unfolding smoothly and easily. Then we look back at the fear in wonder, amazed that we ever got ourselves so worked up!
9 times out of 10, I think the fear is a way-shower to greater, more authentic self-expression.
Blessings,
Andrea