I always think of November as a month represented by gratitude and thankfulness.
We have Thanksgiving in the United States of course and Christmas around the corner, but for me, it is more than that.

Perhaps it is because November is such an in-between month, and as we head towards winter and the end of the year, I can’t help but take stock of the experiences of the year gone by and find myself thinking ahead to 2021 and counting my blessings for all the good in my life and in the lives of those around me.

2020 has been tough for the majority, no doubt about it. I know that for many people fear has been present a lot of the time as well as uncertainty and insecurity.

I want to talk to you today about why fear is so damaging to your health, and how to swap it with gratitude instead.

You can basically choose to live in appreciation and gratitude or choose to live in fear. Sadly, a lot of us live in fear, simply because it’s what is most projected and taught to us.

I don’t mean fear of immediate danger (although this year that may have felt true), I am more talking about the kind of low-level fear that is constantly present.

The fear that many people feel about universal things such as getting sick, ageing, dying, being alone, not earning enough money to provide for our families or not achieving our dreams. That kind of fear is taught to us in subtle and not so subtle ways through societal programming and mass media.

For many people, it is far more normal to feel that kind of fear than it is to have faith and feel gratitude and appreciation.

This is such bad news for our physical and emotional beings and the way we vibrate energetically. Fear lowers vibration, it’s as simple as that.

Living in fear is a very low frequency.

If you are constantly fearful, your immune system is compromised and you are more likely to catch a cold or a virus. That’s because the biochemical state that comes about through the emotion of fear affects your immunity in a negative way.

Here is how fear damages your health:

• Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released that slow and/ or shut down some bodily functions including your gut (which is essential for good immunity).
• Stress hormones can create an overactive mind causing your brain to stop thinking rationally.
• Heart rate and blood pressure increase.
• Chronic health problems can emerge such as ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fatigue, depression, accelerated aging and fertility issues.
• Fear can interrupt processes that allow you to regulate emotions in a healthy way.
• In terms of the Law of Attraction, fear just attracts more fear. If you are constantly vibrating at a low frequency of fear, you can only attract more of the same. You need to raise your vibration and move away from fear to have a healthy, happy life.

In short, there is a time for an appropriate fear response, of course, if you are threatened or endangered, it is normal to feel afraid! But it is not healthy to live in constant, low-grade fear. It literally makes no sense to live in fear. Life is by its very nature unpredictable. None of us can be certain of the future, but to live in fear of that every single day is simply damaging and dysfunctional.

So how can you swap fear for more positive emotions?

Gratitude and appreciation are positive, heart centred feelings that can increase happiness, energy and enthusiasm for life. Researchers have shown that counting your blessings and practicing appreciation makes you healthier.

I know you can’t just stop feeling that familiar fear overnight, so here are my suggestions for some everyday steps you can take to raise your vibration with gratitude and eliminate that low-grade fear from your life.

1. Look at your fear directly: I mean notice it, do not hide from it. Scan your body in your mind and find the physical place where it resides. Be gentle and kind with yourself as you do this. Send love and healing to that place where fear resides.
2. Breathe your way through it: Practice taking some long, deep breaths when you feel fear arising. Breathe in through your nose and hold the breath, before exhaling through your nose. This will calm your nervous system.
3. Make a list of your blessings: Count everything you like here, from your friends and family to the roof over your head. It can be as big as having electricity and clean water, or as small as the guy who let you cut in traffic with a friendly wave. The more you do these lists, the easier they become. You can let them grow organically as your appreciation and vibration raise.
4. Cultivate self-worth: A lot of fear has its roots in a lack of self-worth or self-love. Confidence and appreciation come from self-worth. When you believe in yourself and your ability to be happy, you are able to remain positive far easier. Work on your self-worth with meditation, vision boards, lists of your positive aspects and by figuring out what makes you feel good each day and doing those things. Believe in your innate ability to achieve your dreams.
5. Surrender to the Universe: This could mean surrendering to the bigger picture by focusing on the world at large outside of your own anxieties or literally giving up your fears to the divine source of the Universe. When things feel overwhelming, it helps me to imagine how large the world is, even to picture our solar system and galaxy in space. I then like to release my worries and fear by surrendering them to the divine.

What you will find is that appreciation, gratitude, thankfulness and counting your blessings all lead to happiness and joy. Whether you can turn it around and reduce your fear in an hour, a day, a week, a month or a year you can turn it around with gratitude, I promise you.

Regular gratitude is something that only gets bigger, stronger and multiplies just like love. It’s catching, in a good way.

Thanks for reading. 🙂