Fear Isn’t Loud — It’s Subtle

Fear doesn’t always show up as panic or chaos. Sometimes, it whispers. It sounds like reason. It wears the voice of your mother, your old pastor, your past mistakes. It tells you to play it safe, to wait until you’re ready, to get just one more degree, to double-check the signs.

For a long time, I thought I was being wise. Prudent. Careful. Responsible. But looking back, I wasn’t discerning — I was afraid.

I was living life like I had an endless amount of time. Waiting. Shrinking. Negotiating with the part of me that knew I was meant for more. And slowly, I realized the life I was building wasn’t mine. It was fear’s.

So I decided to change.

But not with a single leap — with small, soulful choices that rewired the way I saw myself, my worth, and the purpose God placed inside me.

PART 1: The Cost of Living Scared

Fear will keep you safe, but it will never make you whole.

The first real shift came when I realized just how much fear had cost me:

• The job I didn’t apply for because I felt unqualified
• The relationship I tolerated because I was afraid of being alone
• The dream I never launched because I didn’t want to fail publicly

Fear didn’t just stop me from doing things. It drained my energy. It clouded my clarity. It made me second-guess the very parts of me that were divine.

There’s a subtle grief that lives in unlived potential. I felt it every morning I woke up with dread. Every time I said yes when I meant no. Every time I abandoned myself for approval.

And one day, I broke. Not in a dramatic way — I simply got tired. Tired of pretending. Tired of apologizing. Tired of performing stability when I was falling apart inside.

I knew then: I couldn’t live another year like that. Not one more month. Not one more week.

PART 2: The Work of Remembering Who I Am

Letting go of fear isn’t about becoming fearless. It’s about becoming faith-full.

I started small. I wrote down the things I was afraid of, one by one:

• Looking stupid
• Losing people
• Making the wrong choice
• Starting over at this age

Then I asked a radical question: What if I’m afraid, and I still do it anyway?

I began to reintroduce myself to who I really was — before life made me scared, before conditioning made me doubt:

• I said no to things that didn’t honor me
• I started therapy to unpack the emotional weight I’d been carrying since childhood
• I created daily rituals: breathwork, journaling, quiet walks without my phone
• I prayed differently — not begging for rescue, but asking for courage, clarity, and conviction

And something sacred happened. The more I honored myself, the less fear felt like truth. The less control it had.

PART 3: I Created My Own Safety Net

One of the biggest myths we carry is that we need to eliminate fear before we move. The truth is, fear never completely disappears — especially when you’re expanding.

What I learned is this:

You don’t have to feel fearless. You just need to feel safe enough to act.

So I began to build safety — internally:

• Emotional safety through nervous system regulation
• Mental safety by questioning my inner critic instead of believing her
• Spiritual safety by trusting that purpose doesn’t need to make sense to be real

Externally:

• I surrounded myself with truth-tellers, not just cheerleaders
• I curated my social media feed to reflect possibility, not comparison
• I set boundaries that protected my peace, even if it made others uncomfortable

These changes weren’t flashy. They were quiet. Subtle. But over time, they built a foundation that could hold my healing.

PART 4: Purpose Isn’t a Destination — It’s a Daily Devotion

For a long time, I believed that finding purpose would feel like a lightning bolt — some big, dramatic moment where my life would suddenly click into place.

But what I found instead was softer, steadier:

• Purpose is not something you find. It’s something you commit to.
• It’s in the way you show up, even when no one’s watching
• It’s in the conversations you dare to have
• It’s in the way you live, love, and lead

Living a purposeful life means asking:

“What does alignment look like today?” “Where can I honor myself more deeply?” “What would the future version of me thank me for?”

My life didn’t change overnight. But it did begin to shift — one decision at a time.

And now, I live from the inside out. I don’t chase — I attract. I don’t perform — I embody.

You Can Choose Differently — Today

If you’re reading this, maybe you’re where I was. Maybe you’ve been negotiating with fear. Shrinking. Waiting. Hoping something or someone will come save you.

This is your permission slip to stop waiting.

You don’t need to be braver. You just need to be honest. You don’t need a map — you need the courage to take one step.

“Fear doesn’t leave — but it doesn’t have to lead.”

You’re not behind. You’re not broken. And you don’t need to become someone else to live fully.

You just need to remember who you already are.

With you in the rising,