About 13 years ago, I had a dream, which changed my life.
I was in the form of my little girl self. I had long dark hair in braids, dressed in shorts and a red checked top. I was happily playing at an amusement park with an adult version of myself.
There was no discernible difference between my child and adult self, spiritually speaking. We had equal amounts of joyful bliss as we skipped from attraction to attraction and rode the rides.
After some time, we came to a long slide that my child self had to ride alone. I was terrified since there was a huge fire-breathing dragon waiting for me at the bottom.
I didn’t want to go and wanted to run away, but the adult version Kate encouraged me to do what I feared….to go down the slide and simply look the dragon (which represented my fears) in the eye.
So, alone, I perched myself at the top of the slide, gripping the sides with my sweaty hands. I needed a push, but there wasn’t one. It was up to me to let go so I could take the most terrifying ride of my life.
Finally, in spite of my tears and fears, I let go. My child self slid a long way down the slippery spiral. After the final turn, I saw the dragon waiting for me at the bottom. I knew this was “It”. I had no choice but to look the dragon in the eye. . . After all, what did I have to lose?
My resolve strengthened in the last moments and before my feet even hit the ground, I stared that fiery dragon down and looked it dead straight in the eye. When this magnetic connection was made, an amazing thing happened. . .This dragon of fear, turned it’s head, obviously weakened by my power.
As the defeated dragon, skulked away, I realized what I had just done was easier than I ever imagined it could be. It did not require a long, raging war, nor did I have extreme suffering or trauma. On the contrary, it was over quickly.
Afterwards, I realized that my suffering occurred in anticipation of facing my fear-dragon, not the dragon, itself. Since this dream, I have faced many fears and I have never been eaten alive by any of my choices.
What form does your fear take on? What will it take for you to give up control, let go and trust that when you look fear in the eye, it too will find you more powerful than it can bear?