A very dear friend of mine is wading through a morass of self-doubt and fear. Not the fear that one experiences in an abusive relationship or living in an area where violence is prevalent, but that other kind of fear that keeps us from living to our fullest potential. The fear of failure. The fear of criticism. The fear of disappointment. The fear of losing love.
As I observe and listen to my friend, I am reminded of periods in my own life when fear clouded my hopes and dampened the natural optimism I generally feel. Not knowing what else to do, I wrote these affirmations for my friend based on versions I have used at various points when fears loomed large in my life.
Today, I share these statements with you because it seems that fear has become so pervasive and I know that collectively we can encourage, support and inspire each other to be our truly courageous and amazing selves.
“I am not afraid. I am NOT afraid. I AM not afraid.”
“I do not judge myself.”
“I am not afraid of the judgment of others.”
“I release, once and for all, the need for the approval of anyone other than myself.”
“I do not question my past decisions and choices. I learn from what seemed to have been mistakes or mis-steps in my life, and am grateful for the lessons I learned from them.”
“I celebrate my unlimited power and potential, even in times when I feel disconnected from them.”
“I am as patient with myself as I am with others.”
“Fear saps my strength and wastes my precious energy. I release my fear NOW.”
”I ask for help when I need it.”
“I accept help when someone I trust offers it to me.”
“I recognize that I am always free to choose LOVE over fear. ALWAYS.”
“I KNOW that I am truly AMAZING!”
In the Leave a Comment section below, I hope you will share some of the ways YOU have overcome your self-doubts and fears. Together, we are stronger and even more courageous!
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Photo Credit: © Sergey Nazarov | Dreamstime.com
I talk to my friends and husband about what bothers me, because their encouragement, reframing of situations, and ideas help me. And morning meditation helps too!
Thank you for sharing these wonderful & powerful affirmations. Your post is timely because I spent the whole of yesterday addressing self-doubt and fears. One thing that really helps me when I am faced with self-doubt or fear is free-form writing. I write down whatever it is I am feeling in the moment. I ask myself questions to understand better the root cause of this fear. I identify my beliefs which might be the cause of some of these fears and try and address those. One of my favorite affirmations is: I am strong, I am beautiful and I am enough!
Thanks for sharing your amazing and comforting thoughts, Sharon. There are times when fear creeps into every life. When it does, I often ask myself if the situation is something I can control or change. If not, I turn to prayer. I also remind myself that worrying never helps. It just zaps your energy and happiness. Life is short, so I try to live in the moment and find happiness and peace in the small things. Sometimes it’s as simple as hearing a bird singing or feeling the sun on my face. Hugs to all!
Sharon,
Your posts are so timely. This is what I needed to hear. That self-doubt and fear are so pervasive for our own wellbeing and yet we keep allowing it.
Thank you for your words of encouragement.
Best
Virginie
I tell myself “I’ve been through worse!”
Self doubt is very real and happens to all of us! Having a supportive network of family and friends is helpful but the solution really has to come from within. Working on improving my health through improved diet and exercise has helped me feel more confident (externally) and this in turn, has helped my inner confidence. Listening to more of my “positive” internal voices also helps overcome those fearful moments. Love the affirmations and will definitely use them! thanks Sharon xx
Thank you for these affirmations, Sharon. I’m putting several of them on post-its and pasting them on my bathroom mirror!
I find that writing a letter to myself listing all of the qualities I value most in myself helps me through periods of self-doubt. Rereading the letter before I start my day gives me the confidence I need to overcome my fear of failure.
Hugs to all you beautiful women in Sharon’s circle of friends. xo
Hi Sharon –
I love these affirmations, and I think they often are just what we need. I also think that sometimes acknowledging our fear is healthy. Sometimes just doing so causes the fear to dissipate. At other times, we need to do more self reflection to understand why we are afraid and hopefully recognize that we will be okay, despite our fears.
As ever your words and wisdom are divinely timed wonderful Sharon! I have been in the muck of fear and self-doubt about a situation for the last 2 weeks and what has really helped has been a combination of writing, talking it out, and meditation — and NOW I want to add some of these affirmations! “I do not judge myself” (for feeling self-doubt) will be central. I also love all of the comments here. Such a compassionate community only you could create, thank you dearly for letting us all in with love xo