Member-only story

How to Overcome Fear and Express Your Authentic Self

Craig Stanland
5 min readJan 13, 2025

It’s a great privilege to express oneself authentically and fully.

It’s one of our most significant sources of inner peace and emotional freedom.

It’s also a privilege, in a free country, that we, and we alone can extend to ourselves.

Nobody can stop us from expressing ourselves authentically. If we believe otherwise, all we’re doing is believing our fears.

When we don’t express ourselves authentically and fully, we’re afraid of what may happen when we do.

We’ll lose face.

We’ll be rejected.

We’ll anger or upset people.

We’ll be judged and criticized.

Or perhaps worst of all, not a damn thing will happen.

We’ll risk exposing ourselves and being seen and heard for who we are, only to hear the sound of crickets at night.

More often than not, the first half of our lives is a cobbled-together blueprint of what we believe we should be doing.

It’s bits and pieces stitched together from family, friends, and observations made through our young, impressionable eyes.

It’s when we reach midlife that we realize, sometimes quite painfully, that the life we’re…

--

--

Craig Stanland
Craig Stanland

Written by Craig Stanland

From corporate success to federal prison, I share my journey to rediscover joy, meaning, and purpose. Join me in reinventing your extraordinary second act!

No responses yet