You can’t fight something intangible unless you first give it a name, understand how it behaves, and where and how it exists. How does it arise, what keeps it alive and how do you get rid of it? all very good questions.

Our greatest enemy is undoubtedly fear. Fear manifests itself in many ways and we fear many things to varying degrees. In no particular order are fears of poverty, ill health, death, criticism, old age, and the loss of a loved one fears that most of us share. We may not be aware of it, but fear is a subversive enemy, often dwelling deep in the subconscious, where it is not easily discovered. Fear is so deep-seated and subtle that one can go through life burdened by it but unaware of its presence.

Fear stems from indecision and doubt. Doubt is the seed that, when planted in the mind, quickly becomes the fruit of fear. Fear leads to loss of hope and loss of faith. We become victims of circumstance, able to change but not able to control change ourselves.

However, in reality, fear is a state of mind. It is the point of view of a person on a situation; your perceived reality. Because fear is a state of mind, it follows that if we can control our thoughts, we can control our fear. That is the good news. As Roosevelt said in his famous speech: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” A state of mind is something that must be created; It can not be bought.

Our thoughts, voluntary or involuntary, quickly manifest themselves in their physical equivalent. So we need to acknowledge fear, name it, understand that it is a creation of our thought process, and resolve to initially control it and finally dispel it by controlling our thoughts and replacing fear with resolve, faith, and hope.

What would you do if you werent afraid? What would you like to do in life that you haven’t done yet? What is holding you back? The answer, whether you accept it or not, is fear. Search your soul. In this exercise you are both judge and jury, prosecutor and defense. Identify the enemy within. Name it, face it and destroy it before it destroys you.