First, think of this idea: The way out is through. Now add to that the understanding that you can't make fear go away by not wanting to be afraid. You end your relationship with fear by recognizing the only hold it has over you are the negative images it projects in your mind about things to come. See these things and walk through them. Don't be afraid to fail and you'll succeed in being free of fear.

It means to do what you don't want to do in the moment you don't want to do it. And you do this not for the purpose of succeeding, but for the purpose of seeing. If you will attempt to act through your fear, instead of letting your fear act through you, you will find out things about it (and yourself) that will cause you to want to learn more. Self-knowledge leads to self-freedom.

When you think that who you are is connected to something you are not, you have identified with it. To make this clear, think about how you felt the last time you accidentally scuffed your brand-new shoes or tore your brand-new pants. It felt like it was you who got damaged! Remember? That's what it means to be identified with something or someone. It hurts! None of this is too difficult to understand when it comes to things outside of us; but when it comes to the word "I," suddenly the mental fog rolls in. When you think of yourself, when you say the word "I," there is a great storehouse of accumulated memories and experiences that rush forth forming an almost solid wall of thoughts and feelings. In that moment of thinking about your "self," you feel real because as these waves of your accumulated past wash through you, it gives you the feeling of being you; but this feeling is only a temporary condition. No matter how many times or how strongly you may feel it, this sensation of "I" is not you. You are not your past. You have only become unconsciously identified with it at that moment. It is your identification with these sensations that provides you with a convincing but nevertheless temporary sense of self. This false identity/self is a borrowed life; it is derived from something that in itself is only temporary.

Thoughts of revenge promise to relieve the mind they occupy of the very pressure these same thoughts produce. All acts of revenge are not only useless, but destroy the one who acts from them. These are not just words. If you will refuse to give dark thoughts and feelings your life for a long enough period, they will reveal themselves to you as being the secret destroyers they are. I promise you that such negativities have no life outside of the one that they steal from you when you act from them. Work at this until you see the fact of these dark forces. They don't bring the freedom from the pain they promise.

We each do all day long what we value. This is difficult to understand for the self that believes it doesn't want to fear, but nevertheless, the fact remains that we involve ourselves in what our present level of self finds fulfilling. Now the answer here is to start seeing there is no value in fear outside of fear's promise to make us fearless if we will just do as it bids. As we work to be aware of any of these distasteful inner states, our very awareness of them not only increases our understanding of their real nature, but serves to help us lose interest in the feelings these states provide. It is a wonderful thing to begin outgrowing our own lower nature. It can be done if you persist in working at it.