"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure."
- Mark Twain
  Often times fear is built up in our minds based on other people's opinions about something rather than our own exploration of it. That can hinder us.  Sometimes it's better to be ignorant of the possibilities stacked against us because then our confidence and joy in the process can stay in tact. When we move forward without obstacles (our fear) and imbue confidence then what we want is sure to appear.  
Keep a look out: It's awesome to watch the tug of war between confidence and fear within someone when he/she is on the verge of overcoming a fear. When the confidence takes over you'll be left feeling inspired yourself.  Cheering and being supportive can make the scariest thing for someone seem conquerable and leaves everyone feeling great when the fear has been overcome.
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"There is nothing that we experience that we do not allow or create". -CinthiaNLP ( twitter friend)

  In the movie "Labyrinth", our main character, Sarah, has to find her way through a big maze to save her baby brother before the Goblin King turns him into his next Goblin victim.  Sarah fights her way to the center of the Labyrinth to save her brother.   At the end, when she faces the Goblin King to retrieve her brother, he is surprised that she makes it.  Sarah then realizes that the way to get her brother back is by simply telling the king, "You have no power over me". And the kingdom crumbles and she gets her brother back.  See, she wasn't supposed to make it.  She overcame every obstacle the Goblin King put in front of her and she won.  She realized, in that moment, that she was playing by his rules, when all she had to do to get her brother back was to play by hers.
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"In giving advice, seek to help, not please, your friend." - Solon (638 BC - 559 BC) 

When it's necessary to say something (especially if your friend asks), being honest is the one best thing we can do for someone. Whether they hear it or not is not your responsibility. Simply giving someone the option of taking your words to heart gives them the opportunity to change something they may not have the eyes to see about themselves.  Letting them run around in an ignorant bubble that you support and protect them with does little for them or for you in the relationship.  All any one of us wants is to be accepted, appreciated and heard.  When you "tell it like it is" the potential for a much more connected relationship emerges....So, next time tell your friend he's a piece of Spinach stuck between his teeth;)
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" The truth will set you free but first it will piss you off." - Alexandra Billings
The truth is that I've just started re-instating a solid physical Yoga practice in my life again after not having one for 5 months.  And why have I not had one for this long?  Because I knew there was something that would come up that I didn't want to come up.  And what has emerged after just 4 classes of Yoga: pain, anger, frustration, sadness, childhood stubbornness, tantrums and tears, and every excuse in the book as to why I can't or shouldn't be practicing.  It started with a car accident in the beginning of the year and then moved onto a bicycle accident.  I've been avoiding my responsibilities of making myself truly happy.  And why would I do that?  Cause I have to go through the shit storm to get there.
So on my path to freedom and happiness, I've got to make a pit-stop at "bleh" first.  I was in my yoga class today and the teacher asked us to do an inversion.  I sat on my mat quietly, making the decision not to do it because the previous week I had tried and my hand ( that I had hurt in my bike accident) went all spasmy.  Who wants to revisit that, right?  She told me, very directly to please join the class.  I said that I would not.  She said "why?", as if me having my own ideas was absurd.  I told her about my injury and she said she would help me and to please join the class.  I felt like a bad child.  She had the TA come over and hold my wrists, which infuriated me.  Number one, most yoga teachers let students decide what to do with their own bodies, number two now I had to go into the possibility of my hand re-spasming or doing some other ungodly thing that would freak me out and number three the whole class was watching and I really didn't feel like battling my hand, the teacher and probably my tears in front of everyone....

Now, with her and the TA's help, my hand didn't do anything it wasn't supposed to. Well, wasn't that a nice little gift to me: initial freedom from the fear...I'm curious to see what comes up next week. ;)
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