Hi there,

I feel that fear is keeping me from living my life. Whenever I get any new ideas, I always end up too afraid to even try them out. I suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome and social phobia, and often, it's hard for me to even get out of the house. Obviously, I cannot keep living like this, so I thought I'd try what my therapist has encouraged me to do many times - to share my fear whenever I get afraid. She says sharing is the way to move forward when you're stuck in an emotion.

Maybe we can all share our fears in this thread when needed

Many of my fears seem to stem from the same 'root' - I'm afraid of what people will think of me. This goes back to my childhood where I had to please my mother in order to receive 'love' from her - obviously, it wasn't love at all but acceptance of doing what she wanted me to do. I can't live like that anymore, trying to please other people! I want to live my life the way I see fit and I can't let my fear stop me from doing that - so from now on, whenever there's something I really want to do but am scared of doing, I'll come and share here, and you guys can tell me there's nothing to fear anymore - deal? Obviously, I'll return the favour to anyone who needs it!

Take care!