Which path do you walk? Faith, or fear?
Faith and fear for me are the two opposite feelings that often show up in my life. Fear is usually more of the dominant feeling as it comes easier, I believe, and my brain goes to it more than it does to faith. Yet when I think things through then faith is more often where I land. I know when I first started this practice, years ago, I had a lot of fear. Fear of failure, of being a doctor, of (fill in the blank). For several months this fear even stopped me from wanting to work on my practice, and it affected my sleep in a big way. I would be awake for hours, almost nightly, with countless fear statements in my head. However, seeing more and more patients, over time, the fear then began to decrease as I saw the positive changes I was helping to bring to their lives.
I am again at a place of fear and faith as I step out to do my personal practice full time. Fear continues to try to make its presence known, but this time it is different as I am living in faith. I am living with the knowledge I have from practicing medicine, and from the point of view that fear only holds me back. I don’t fully know where this path will take me, but what I do know is you have to step outside of fear to have that life of faith you want. This is often a scary experience as all the “what ifs” start showing up.
Several important people in my life have recently encouraged me to read the book “The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear to Faith” by Gabrielle Bernstein. I am not even through the second chapter and I am already seeing how small changes can have big impacts on our lives.
The story that we tell ourselves, or allow our brain to continue to play through, can either hold us back or allow us to see our full potential. Where is fear holding you back? What dreams are you not following because of (insert reason)? Take some steps this year to make changes, to work on the fear that is holding you back, and to step out in faith and love knowing that this is your life. To my patients, thanks for stepping out with me in faith as I put my full attention and love into this medical practice of not just mine, but ours.