Gayle,

Thank you for this post, my own experience with fear and fearlessness is that my fear can arise as obstacles in my day.  Whenever I get this queasy felling that I am uncomfortable with the prospect of making a phone call or making a decision that has a large impact on my life, I know this is when I need to apply my practice and not turn away.  To look at what is going on in my mind and to not be stopped by my fear.  My years of practice have helped me to recognize this and to have the conficence to step through some of these moments

Paula Bickford

 Paula,

You are so right about that queasy feeling.  It always wakes me up to pay attention to what is going on, and usually, it is fear expressing itself as self-protection (self-absorption), or avoidance of the situation.  When I am not being reactive, I actually try to use that feeling as a geiger counter for my next step forward...toward the fear and into the situation.  When I have missed the moment and reacted, I try to go forward with my next move. When I follow that route, it usually is much less scary on the other side than I imagined.   

Gayle,

Thank you so much for your post.  I'm awestruck by the notion that "when my heart is open to the universe of possiblities, I actually feel joy and not fear!"  I will contemplate this possiblity, and want to try noticing what happens to fear when my heart is open.  If nothing else, practicing with opening my heart is certainly more appealing than the concept of "practicing with fear" (with images of gritting my teeth, "chin up", etc., etc.).  It seems like a more compassionate approach for me at the moment.