Rusty Nails of Fear

About two years ago, our homeowners association decided to replace the roofs on our homes. We are a small cul-de-sac where everyone knows one another and looks out for each other. As our old roofs were being torn off for the first 2 weeks, the biggest issue we had were hundreds of old rusty nails that were falling off our homes and threatening our car tires and the paws of our beloved 4-legged friends! Because I work from home, I seemed to be the one person who took it upon myself to pick these dangerous nails up daily as this messy project went on for weeks! Now two years later, I still seem to be at the forefront of the Rusty Nail Pick-Up Project!

I find these old rusty nails flying off our roofs and showing up on our street and threatening more problems if we did not pick them up. So, I do, realizing that when I do, it may be just the thing that eliminates a neighbor’s car tire from being destroyed or one of our dogs/cats from having to be rushed to the hospital. I tend to still find these at least 1-2 per week!

So, today when I picked one up in front of my neighbor’s house, something occurred to me. I began to realize that these rusty nails were very much like the ‘fears’ that live within our mind. They are always out there lurking in places we do not think about and ever so often, they fly out (just like the nails flying from the rooftops) right in front of us, causing us to STOP and face them and make a decision to remove them or let them sit there and threaten the peacefulness in which we all yearn to live our lives and literally flatten our theoretical tires of life! These Rusty Nails of Fear show up when we least expect it and are never a lot of fun when they enter into places within our lives that appear to be the status quo of our lives - usually within our relationships with others or in seeking out some new career-idea or a risk we want to take but hesitate because of our Rusty Nails of Fear!

So, I began to look at my life circumstances and all the “Rusty Nails of Fear” that were slyly and unexpectedly popping up here and there. I began to see them everywhere (and I like to think I am a fairly conscious person!!!). They were popping up in places like family members, old friendships, career aspirations, financial risks I wanted to take, even fun things I wanted to do but felt time/money were limited for me to enjoy them. One by one, I began to remove these nails I had collected within my unconscious mind. And as I did, the Light began to shine again within my consciousness and suddenly I began to be more creative and inspired by others. I would get a phone call with the exact words I needed to hear, the advice that meant all the difference in my ability to make a decision and the courage I needed to try something I had previously thought I could never do! Even new people I would meet at my favorite coffee shop began to show up and appreciate me in a way that no one had seen before…my spirits began to lift and my life changed in beautiful ways.

Sometimes these rusty nails of fear can come in the form of people in our lives, who invoke the triggers you have within you, causing you to dive into a depression or even into anger or sadness. But these are only feelings you are having, they are not your true divine self. I am not suggesting that you remove these people from your life (they may be relatives or good close friends with their own rusty nails of fear coming into their lives), but instead, just state your truth to them, set your boundary and send LOVE their way, while releasing the trigger they invoked and your need for them to show up any other way than they are. Know that they are only able to portray what is real for them and they are simply an actor in your “life’s play” showing you something about yourself that needs to surface. Do not make them wrong or blame them, just appreciate where they are and know your own truth.

If you are feeling the rusty nails of fear lurking around and within you, I encourage you to take notice of them and stop giving them the power to take you down (or flatten your emotional tires, so to speak). Begin picking them up and OUT of your mind/ego and throwing them away one by one. Remember to appreciate what they are here to show you. They are your Shadow (as Debbie Ford speaks about) and they are your greatest teacher. But when you choose to really learn what they are here to teach you, you will no longer need to find that rusty nail again and again. When you know they no longer serve your highest good you begin to see what does serve your highest good. Recognize that they are there to increase your awareness of what the infinite possibilities are in your life, should you choose.
Life gets easier when we choose to become aware of the Rusty Nails of Fear in our life and take actions that remove them one by one. For me, life is happier, even amidst the chaos and the uncertainty because I choose the Light over the Dark, whether it comes in the form of Rusty Nails falling from the roof tops in my neighborhood or people who are close to me.

What are your Rusty Nails of Fear? How are they dictating your behaviors? Your Thoughts? Your Feelings? Are they surfacing from the people in your life? Are you ready to face these rusty nails and remove them forever, or will you still be finding them two years from now, literally falling out of the sky, reminding you of something that must be dealt with? Or worse, will they flatten your tires and causing a whole multitude of events that will have you wondering why you just did not deal with it when you saw it on the ground, right in front of your face?!!
The choices you have are endless and yet it is within our choices that our destiny is determined. We can take the most difficult path or the path that leads to happiness, peace and love.

For me, I choose the latter….and I will always, without hesitancy, pick up those rusty nails and quickly dispose of them! Putting them in the place in which they belong- which is NOT within me, my thoughts or in my tires!!

What will you choose...right now?