In this excerpt from Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Susan talks about her revelation when she learned that in order to receive, she must first give.
If we are constantly expecting, we will spend a great deal of our lives disappointed that the world isn’t treating us right.
I didn’t find my way out of this painful state of existence until my mid-thirties, when it finally dawned on me that no matter how much I had in my life, nothing would ever be enough! The more I had, the more I wanted—more love, more money, more praise—more, more, more. Obviously, something I was or wasn’t doing was keeping me from ever feeling satisfied. And, worse, it was keeping me in a state of constant fear that everything I had would ultimately disappear and there would be nothing left. I saw everything as the proverbial last drink of water in the desert, and I hung on for dear life.
It was time to try another way of being, since my old way was definitely not serving me, or anyone else in my life. As I described earlier, I sought out many teachers and got many answers. In essence, I learned that in order to get rid of the fear of lack, I had to do the opposite of what I had been doing up until that time. Instead of hanging on to everything for dear life, I had to start releasing, letting go, giving it away. If you think anything else in this book is difficult, wait until you try this one! It’s really a Catch-22: It’s easy to give when you feel abundantly endowed, but you only feel that way when you give, not before! So: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway!