Changing My Forecast

For years my forecast was based on my fears. Like the weather predictions, my forecast called for “rainy days ahead”. My thoughts were along these lines: “What if none of what I’m working towards comes to be? What if none of my dreams come true?” I struggled under the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of missing out. Even the fear of success haunted me. “What if things work out, but then I mess it all up?” “What if I change my mind? What if he/they change their mind? What if I make the wrong decision? What if I screw up?” These were the questions; the fears that shouted at me.

I have found it consistently true that you will find what you are looking for. It is a process of reinforcement that builds our beliefs and creates emotional strongholds. The discovery that I could make choices that changed the forecast of my future was revolutionary for me. The discipline of identifying my fears, facing them, and then choosing to rehearse the truth and hope in place of the fear was difficult at first, but the rewards were unmistakable.

When you look for improvement, growth, and encouragement, you find it. When you see how you are growing, you are increasingly motivated to change. Experiencing the reward of your inner work changes your outlook too. You begin to believe that you are worth your own best effort and hope begins to invade and overcome the fears that forecasted the future. This brings a strength and boldness that is refreshing and empowering.

          The “what ifs” of the past are changed into statements of hope: “What if this turns out better than I thought?” If not that extreme, there is a middle ground that sounds something like this; “I’m giving this my best effort and I feel good about that.”

When fear is the loudest voice, there is a grasping for control. This fuels the anxiety of things not working out perfectly. When we choose to listen to hope instead of fear, we are not trying to control, we are expectant and confident. Instead of needing things to work out just as we wanted, we can believe that even if circumstances don’t align with what we want, we will still be ok, and perhaps something better will surprise us. We are looking forward to what “could be”, focusing on growth and possibility instead of looking to the past failings and focusing on what could have been.

The forecast is through the lens of hope; for me that means, “sunny days ahead”!