I'm a firm believer that fear is a bully. We allow ourselves to be ruled by our fears...fear of failure, fear of what others think, fear of not being good enough...the list could go on and on. It's so easy to become accustomed to the blanket of fear that wraps around us, believing it will keep us safe and warm. But slowly the fear wraps tighter and tighter around us, until we can hardly function under it's weight and control.

What's really scary is how easiliy we can allow fear to own us without realizing we have given up control. Fear is stealing so much from us, including these 5 things:

1. Peace of mind

Fear causes us to second guess every decision we make - or don't make. We question our choices and regret the chances we were too afraid to take (ironic, right?).

2. Direction in life

Fear steals our purpose. And we so often find ourselves lost in life, not knowing what to do. At first we question our choices and opinions, fearing what others will think and not wanting to be wrong. But eventually, if fear is able to take control for long enough, we start to lose our opinions all together. People ask questions like "What do you like?" and "What are you interested in?" and you just might find yourself in the position where you literally don't know. It's no longer just the fear of sharing your opinion that's holding you back; it's the honest and terrifying truth that you don't know.

3. The confidence in who you are

Kids know who they are. They aren't afraid of telling you what they think, what they want to do, or who they want to be. But fear creeps in as we age, and so many of us end up in this place of self-doubt and inferiority. While we should be out celebrating who we are as unique individuals, we get caught up in trying to be like everyone else because it's too scary to be who we really are.

4. The ability to follow through

How many opportunities have been lost because we are afraid of change? We set goals, but we fail to follow through, or we push them off because we think that someday we'll be more ready, we'll have more money, time, resouces etc. But really, those are all excuses that fear has placed within us; excuses that we need to crush.

5. Passion and dreams

We all have unique passions, things that get us up and make us excited for life. We have big plans and dreams and hopes, but somehow fear and the mundane take over. Fear makes us believe our passions aren't worthwhile and that our dreams are too big. So many of us give up on the grand lives we could be living, choosing instead the dreary, complaint-filled life of a squashed and defeated dreamer.

It's time that we take our lives back, rip off that blanket of fear and step into the lives we are really meant to live. Let's recognize fear for what it is and start living the lives we truly want to live, out of love rather than fear.