The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear to Faith

by Gabrielle Bernstein

To truly say yes to the love of the Universe means you have to look at your resistance and give up a thought system that you mistakenly identified as safety, security, and the foundation of your life.

“The presence of fear is a sure sign you are trusting in your own strength.”

The moment you realign with love and stop relying on your own strength, clear direction will be presented. The presence of love will always cast out fear.

Energy flows where your attention goes. My focus and attention had been so negative that I cut off the possibility for love. Then the moment I said my prayer, I opened up my consciousness to receive new information. This was my way out of the fearful projection.

The same way the fearful stories block you from the flow of the Universe, your positive stories empower your life. Let’s look closely at the powerful stories you’re replaying on your internal projector.

Positive stories make you feel good. In the presence of feeling good, you are powerful. Your presence is your power. When your internal movie screen is projecting an empowering story, then your perception of your life is empowered. When you dwell in an energy of positivity and power, you become a magnet for miracles.

The way back to your power is simple. Whenever you notice yourself disconnect from the presence of love, simply say this prayer to come back to peace, “I witness that I’m out of alignment with my power. I choose to see peace instead of this.”

Power lies in knowing how your positive presence expands your outer life.

When you’re disconnected, you can recite your prayer and get back into the flow. I witness that I’m out of alignment with my power. I choose to see peace instead of this.

We can perceive a negative health diagnosis with complete terror or a chance to slow down and truly start embracing each moment with gratitude. No matter how dire the circumstances, we can choose to perceive with love or with fear. Our own interpretation determines our perception of the reality we experience.

UNIVERSAL LESSON: THE UNIVERSE WILL ALWAYS CONSPIRE TO LEAD YOU TOWARD SOLUTIONS OF THE HIGHEST GOOD WHEN YOU OPEN UP TO RECEIVE THEM.

The key to receiving spiritual guidance is to be open to it.

Step 1: Ask for guidance. The moment you pray for guidance, you reconnect with your inner wisdom, the voice of love. In an instant you can release the teacher of fear and choose the teacher of love by welcoming spiritual guidance.

Now ask for guidance: “Thank you, Universe, for guiding me to perceive this fear through the teacher of love.”

Step 2: Practice the Holy Instant. When you pray to learn through the teacher of love over the teacher of fear, you experience what A Course in Miracles calls the “Holy Instant.” The Holy Instant is the moment that you surrender your fear to the care of the Universe and accept the perspective of love. It’s not temporal, or based in time. Rather, it’s an instant out of time and space in which our decision-making mind realizes it made a mistake (the “unholy instant”) and invites the loving perception of the Universe to reinterpret the situation. The shift in perception enables us to understand that the world outside is a projection of the world we created in our mind; that the problem is not outside, but within. We’re reminded that there’s a loving spiritual presence that can restore us to sanity. That’s the Holy Instant. And when we witness the Holy Instance, we experience a miracle.

UNIVERSAL LESSON: OUR HAPPINESS IS A DIRECT REFLECTION OF HOW QUICKLY WE CAN RESTORE OUR FEAR BACK TO LOVE.

This is what I call the comeback rate. How quickly can you come back to love? The world we perceive will give us countless opportunities to disconnect from love.

Remember: the goal isn’t to avoid fear. Fear will never go away altogether, and if you pour your energy into trying to avoid it, you miss the opportunity to experience the Holy Instant. Instead, the goal is to not believe in fear.

Whenever we align our thoughts with love, we can truly feel the presence of the Universe behind us. As you begin to shift your perceptions out of fear, it’s important to get clear about the world you want to see.

In every situation you have two choices: Will you learn through fear or will you learn through love? UNIVERSAL LESSON: THE UNIVERSE IS ALWAYS RESPONDING TO THE ENERGY BEHIND YOUR BELIEFS.

Step 4: Put out what you want to receive. Our energy transmits a message, and that message will always be supported. If you’re aligned with a belief system of fear, then your experiences will be backed with fear. If you retrain yourself to choose love, then you’ll experience life through the lens of love. It’s not that your experiences change but that your experience of your experiences change.

Step 5: Create a purpose statement. This is a statement to the Universe. Whenever you put pen to paper, you sign a sacred contract. You send a powerful message to the Universe that you’re willing to surrender your fear and that you’re ready to let love lead the way. Put it on the page, baby! This is a huge step in surrendering to the Universe. We cannot stop the learning process, but we can align with the energy of love to make it much more fun. Your purpose is to learn through love. If you’re ready to commit to learning through love, then state your purpose to the Universe. Write it down now on a piece of paper or in your journal: I am ready to learn through love.

We’ve been guided to believe that without pain we have not accomplished or achieved. I’m here to bust that myth now. Pain does not equal purpose. Your purpose is to be joyful. Your purpose is to live with ease. Your purpose is to surrender to the love of the Universe so you can live a happy life. Accept the purpose of love, and your life will radically change this instant.

Step 6: You are the dreamer of your dream. You are the dreamer of your dream that is your life. At times your dream may feel like a nightmare if you’ve disconnected from the love of the Universe and instead identify with the fear of the world. When you rely on the spiritual guidance of the Universe, you’ll be led out of the nightmare and into a happy dream. A dream of new perceptions that resembles the truth of who you are:

UNIVERSAL LESSON: CREATE VISIONS OF THE WORLD YOU WANT TO SEE.

UNIVERSAL LESSON: THE VISIONS YOU SEE IN STILLNESS OFFER YOU GREAT GUIDANCE AND REASSURANCE THAT YOU’RE BEING SUPPORTED.

Choose the teacher of love. Accept that you’d rather learn through love. Practice the Holy Instant and pray to learn through the teacher of love over the teacher of fear. Fast comeback. Remember, your happiness is a direct reflection of how quickly you can shift your fear to love. Align your thoughts with love. The Universe always responds to the energy behind your beliefs. Commit to your purpose statement: I am ready to learn through love. You are the dreamer of your dream. Create visions of the world you want to see.

YOU ARE ALWAYS BEING GUIDED. EVEN WHEN IT DOESN’T FEEL L IKE IT

Every experience you perceive on the movie screen that is your life gives rise to one of two choices: to learn through the perception of love or to learn through the perception of fear. Each instance is a holy encounter providing a divine spiritual assignment in which you can choose to heal or to stay stuck in the bondage of your past. If you choose to show up for these Universal assignments with a willingness to heal, then many miracles will be presented to you. But if you’re unwilling to show up for these assignments, you will stay stuck in the stories and experiences that do not serve you.

You are not a victim and you can be happy and free. If you’re ready to begin the journey toward freedom, then it’s time to show up for the Universal assignment.

UNIVERSAL LESSON: THE WORLD IS YOUR CLASSROOM, AND PEOPLE ARE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS.

Step 1: Recognize the assignment and call it by its name. The first step is to witness that what may seem to be a terribly uncomfortable situation is actually a Universal assignment. In other words, witness your craziness and call it by its name: fear. Then accept that the fear has shown up in this way as a divine assignment for healing and growth. Take a deep, honest look at the situation that’s causing you pain, and identify all the ways that the person or circumstance is triggering your fear-based beliefs. Honor yourself for having the strength to witness this instead of running from it. Be proud of yourself for seeing it as an assignment.

Step 2: Accept that you cannot avoid the assignment. The second step is all about accepting that you can’t avoid the assignment—you can only postpone it. If you don’t choose to accept the assignment today, it will continue to present itself in new relationships and experiences. If you

Be willing to show up for the assignment once and for all. And trust that the Universe never gives you what you cannot handle.

Step 3: Honor your feelings. Showing up for the Universal assignment requires your willingness to feel the pain it triggers so you can heal from the past. Many folks on a spiritual path skip this incredibly important step. It’s easy to throw an affirmation on top of your fear or try to will it away. But underneath all our difficult experiences are unfelt anger, resentment, and fear. The practice of healing long-held suffering begins the moment you acknowledge the suffering is there.

We cling to fear out of habit. We’re convinced that it’s safer to deny our uncomfortable feelings. But what we repress will persist no matter how good we get at avoiding it. While it may seem terrifying to face our deepest wounds, there is always freedom on the other side.

True healing occurs when you give yourself permission to feel whatever feelings live below the triggers.

The pathway to healing old wounds is through honoring yourself for all that you’ve been through, acknowledging the conditioning that you’ve experienced, and compassionately loving yourself back to peace. Compassion is the antidote to anger, resentment, and fear. Compassion gives you permission to let go and allow deep healing to begin.

UNIVERSAL LESSON: THE PATHWAY TO HEALING OCCURS WHEN YOU LOVE YOURSELF SO MUCH THAT THE DARKNESS FROM THE PAST CAN NO LONGER CO-EXIST WITH YOUR FAITH IN THE LIGHT OF THE PRESENT MOMENT. Once you’ve undergone the practice of compassionately loving yourself back to your right mind, you’re ready to ask the Universe for help.

We’re often afraid of being vulnerable, but vulnerability is incredibly powerful. It creates genuine connection.

UNIVERSAL LESSON: FREEDOM FROM THE PAST IS AVAILABLE TO YOU WHEN YOU SHOW UP FOR THE ASSIGNMENTS IN THE PRESENT.

Let’s recap the steps to healing your universal assignments: Recognize the assignment and call it by its name: fear. Accept that you cannot avoid the assignment and be willing to show up. Your readiness will clear the path. Feel the feelings that live underneath the old pain. Call on compassion to clear the path. Ask the Universe for help, and rely on a power greater than you. Take care of your side of the street, and own your part in the situation. Welcome healing and expect miracles.

Step 1: Get out of the way. The greatest block to our presence of love is the presence of fear. When our fearful thoughts take over, we get caught up in the littleness and cut off our connection to our power.

Step 2: Calibrate your energy by meditating.

The images we receive in meditation can guide us to remember the magnificence of our true selves. Use your meditation practice to tune in to your presence and bring forth your greatest source of power.

Here’s how you practice the Kirtan Kriya: Sit comfortably in a chair or cross-legged on the floor. Roll your shoulders back and straighten your neck. Get your body into a straight alignment to become a vessel to receive the love of the Universe. Repeat the mantra Saa Taa Naa Maa as you tap your thumb on your pointer, middle, ring, and little fingers (as seen in the image). While you chant the mantra, imagine the sound flowing in through the top of your head and out the middle of your forehead (your third eye point). For two minutes, sing in your normal voice. For the next two minutes, sing in a whisper. For the next four minutes, say the sound silently to yourself. Then reverse the order, whispering for two minutes, and then out loud for two minutes, for a total of 12 minutes. To end the meditation, inhale very deeply, stretch your hands above your head, and then bring them down slowly, sweeping out to the side.

Step 3: Set empowering intentions. The intention to be in your presence is enough to realign you to love. Setting an intention can be as basic as stating to yourself (silently or out loud) that you’re ready to reconnect to your presence. This statement sends a message to the Universe that you’re willing to release fear and align your thoughts and energy with love.

UNIVERSAL LESSON: YOUR INTENTIONS CREATE YOUR REALITY.

UNIVERSAL LESSON: THE UNIVERSE PICKS UP WHAT YOU PUT OUT.

In reality, the more joyful we are, the more light we shine on the world, the more power we have to express our presence, and the more positive energy we put out.