THE REST IS HISTORY

I definitely had some fear last year when I turned 59. What was I afraid of? I can’t even tell you. I have never put much stock in age. I don’t even really think about my age, until last year. I really do believe you are as old as you feel, and I feel good!. Yet I let fear get the best of me last year, for a moment.
being fearful goes right along with accepting someone else's opinion as our own and implementing it into our belief system. We will all face fear at one time or another. Courage is that quality of heart that lets us do it.
I haven’t always realized that I am brilliant and amazing.When I was in high school I was terrified to hand in my home work. I was sure it was all wrong and the teacher would laugh at me.This belief led to other beliefs that caused me not to participate in class, and at times not to attend. I read my first book after I was married. My husband joined the army, we were stationed in Germany for a year and a half. I couldn’t watch TV or listen to radio because I didn’t speak the language, so I joined a book club. I instantly fell in love with reading and have had a book in my hands ever since. With every book I read, I realized I really am smart, and precious moments of my  life--moments that could have been full of love, creativity and presence--were taken over by the fear I created in my own head..

While the basic experience of fear is that “something is wrong,” many people turn that feeling into “there is something wrong with me.” We feel as though we must live up to certain standards in order to be loved, so we constantly monitor ourselves, trying to see if we’re falling short. When you live in this trance of fear, you instinctively develop strategies to protect yourself. The efforts you make to avoid fear and prove yourself worthy only reinforce the deep sense of being inadequate. When you run from fear and take false refuge, you miss being in the very place where genuine healing and peace are possible.

When it came time to certify in yoga, I am self taught so, I had never attended any yoga classes, I took my same high school beliefs with me. I did all my online essays and school work with ease, but when it came time to hand in all the work, those dreaded thoughts came back to me “I’m sure it’s all wrong, the teacher's will laugh at me.” Mindfulness is the clear recognition of your moment-to-moment experience. Here the inquiry to use is, what is happening inside me right now?

Compassion is the spacious quality of heart that allows and holds with tenderness whatever you are experiencing. It seeks to answer the question; Can I meet this moment, this experience, with kindness?
It took me a few days, to realized that the same beliefs that kept me from getting good grades in high school, may, now, keep me from being certified in what I love so much, and worked so hard to accomplish. Being mindfully attentive means that you are aware of the stories you are telling yourself and the feelings and sensations in your body. I walked right up to my fear and looked it in the face. Then, I put my paperwork in an envelope and mailed it to the school. The rest is history. I am Nancy Adams, CERTIFIED! Yoga Instructor, Thai Yoga Therapist and Ayurveda Consultant. AND I AM GOOD AT IT!!!! Take time today to reflect on the fears you have overcome and what you are good at.
These are my own thoughts. I sometimes take writings from others to support my own ideas.