FEAR

Definition of Fear:
An unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.

Synonyms of Fear:
Alarm, panic, trepidation, dread, consternation, distress, anxiety, worry, angst, etc.

These notes are from recovery in AA and/or related 12 step programs. Readers are encouraged to click external links for more detail. We hope you find them helpful.

Love in fellowship.

Fear is really just an illusion. It’s optional. The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else. –Oswald Chambers | More…

Powerless as we are, living on self-will is a frightening, unmanageable experience. If we do not make a daily decision to surrender our lives to the care of our Higher Power, we may become overwhelmed with our fear of life. –Just for today | More…

Discouragement is a warning signal that I may have wandered across the God line. May I always remember that the power within me is far greater than any fear before me. The secret of fulfilling my potential is in acknowledging my limitations and believing that time is a gift, not a threat. –Daily Reflections | More…

Resolving fear has two aspects. We shall have to try for all the freedom from fear that is possible for us to attain. Then we shall need to find both the courage and the grace to deal constructively with whatever fears remain. –As Bill Sees It | More… (p.61)

Courage is not the absence of fear; if there were no fear, there’d be no need for courage. Courage means making the choice to move forward in spite of our fears. –One Day At A Time | More…

The problem of resolving fear has two aspects. We shall have to try for all the freedom from fear that is possible for us to attain. Then we shall need to find both the courage and grace to deal constructively with whatever fears remain.

One of the greatest gifts in A.A. for me has been the courage to take action. I am becoming the whole person I wish to be and, for that, I am deeply grateful. –Daily Reflections | More…

The chief activator of our defects has been self – centered fear. . . .
When I feel uncomfortable, irritated, or depressed, I look for fear.

I am no longer willing to live with the multitude of character defects that characterized my life while I was drinking. Step Seven is my vehicle to freedom from these defects. I pray for help in identifying the fear underneath the defect, and then I ask God to relieve me of that fear.  –Daily Reflections | More…

When our failings generate fear, we then have soul-sickness. This sickness, in turn, generates still more character defects. As faith grows, so does inner security. The vast underlying fear of nothingness commences to subside. We of A.A. find that our basic antidote for fear is a spiritual awakening. –As Bill Sees | More… (p.196)

This program is helping us to understand that fears are human, normal and survivable when we let God and our friends in the program lend a helping hand. Remember, we are confronted with no situation too big to handle, no experience for which we are unprepared, if we but turn to that greater power that the program offers us. We cannot fail in whatever we try today. –Each Day a New Beginning/Karen Casey | More…

What we fear facing and dealing with is often inside. We may transfer our fear and irritation to external circumstances and the people around us, when what we need to do is look inside.

Usually, we are our own worst enemy. Whether our inner tigers are real or made out of paper, we need to face them instead of appeasing them.

As we recover, many of the fears, which we had tried to bury, come to consciousness. With the Power greater than ourselves, we are able to tame the inner tigers.–Food For Thought | More…

My most irrational fear is that I’ve forgotten. In a miraculous way, our fears become less powerful when we discover that we share them with other people. –Today’s Gift | More…

Fear is only an illusion. It is the illusion that creates the feeling of separateness, the false sense of isolation that exists only in your imagination –Geraldine Sounders | More…

God (Higher Power) exists, and the Eternal, All-Powerful, All-Present God is the loving father of mankind. If you would meditate on this fact, until you had some degree of understanding of what is really means, most of your difficulties and physical ailments would disappear, for they are rooted and grounded in fear The underlying cause of ALL trouble is fear. –Sermon on the Mount | More… (p.126)

Panic is our great enemy. We don’t need to become desperate all you need to do is breathe, relax, and go with the flow. –The Language of Letting Go/Melody Beattie | More…

The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime undertaking, one that can never be wholly completed. When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other conditions of serious insecurity, we shall all react to this emotion–well or badly, as the case may be. We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up. –As Bill Sees It | More… (p.263)

Underlying all the excuses was the fear of failure. I did not know that true failure comes about by not ever having tried.

My life circumstances never got better by ignoring my problems. Ignoring my condition began to complicate every aspect of my life. –One Day At A Time | More…

We used alcohol and other drugs to forget our fear, but it didn’t go away. It got worse. Now we know we don’t have to be afraid.

When our lives are in the care of our Higher Power, we’re safe. Faith is the cure for our fear. But still, fear keeps creeping back inside us.

That’s okay. It’s normal. We have to practice turning our fear over to our Higher Power. –Keep It Simple | More…

Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. We cannot undo a single act we performed, we cannot erase a single word we said.

Yesterday is gone beyond recall. If you have enough faith and trust in God, He will give you all the strength you need to face every temptation and to overcome it.

Nothing will prove too hard for you to bear, you can face any situation. You can overcome any temptation with God’s help. So fear nothing. –24Hours | More…

The chief activator of our defects has been self – centered fear. . . . . When I feel uncomfortable, irritated, or depressed, I look for fear.

I am no longer willing to live with the multitude of character defects that characterized my life while I was drinking. Step Seven is my vehicle to freedom from these defects. I pray for help in identifying the fear underneath the defect, and then I ask God to relieve me of that fear.  –Daily Reflections | More…

By working the steps, we come to accept a Higher Power’s will… We lose our fear of the unknown. We are set free With all sorts of changes taking place, it’s only natural to grab hold of something, anything familiar and try to hold on.

Solace can be found in a Power greater than ourselves. The more we allow changes to happen at the direction of our Higher Power, the more we’ll trust that those changes are for the best. Faith will replace fear, and we’ll know in our hearts that all will be well. –Just for Today. 12/12 | More…

Freedom from fear is a decision we can choose to make at any time. We can simply give it up and replace it with our understanding of equality with all persons.

Taking responsibility for our fear, or our freedom from it, is the first step to a perspective promising healthier emotional development. –The Promise of a New Day/Karen Casey & Martha Vanceburg | More…

It took years for me to realize the connection between my fears and the anger and resentment I felt. Today when I feel fear, it’s usually that I’m afraid of losing something or of not getting something I demand. Today, when I’m feeling angry or resentful, I stop and ask myself what I’m afraid of. Doing this allows me to take the mask off my fears and that always leads me to a solution. –Wisdom of the Rooms | More…

The application of spiritual principles helps eliminate fear from our lives. By refraining from treating other people in harmful or unlawful ways, we find we needn’t fear how we will be treated in return. As we practice love, compassion, understanding, and patience in our relationships with others, we are treated in turn with respect and consideration. We realize these positive changes result from allowing our Higher Power to work through us. We come to believe—not to think, but to believe—that our Higher Power wants only the best for us. No matter what the circumstances, we find we can walk in faith instead of fear. –Just For Today | More…

The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. -Oswald Chambers.

The saying “There is nothing to fear but fear itself” seems somewhat simplistic, as does the advice to always “choose love instead of fear. We learn the art of centering by focusing on our breath whenever fear or anxiety starts.With each breath, we can intentionally allow our abdominal breathing to get slower, quieter, and more regular, which communicates to our entire nervous system that we are safe. –Cornrstones | More…