The Truth About Fear, Growth & Finding Ourselves Again

The Truth About Fear, Growth & Finding Ourselves Again

Our struggles, our discomfort, and all those moments of uncertainty and fear, those are the experiences we only get when we’re willing to put ourselves out there and be vulnerable. Fear has a sneaky way of disguising itself as protection. At first, it feels like a barrier keeping us safe, but when you really look at it, fear is often the very thing holding us back from who we are meant to become. It keeps us small, stuck, and circling around the same familiar patterns… instead of stepping into our real potential for growth, new ideas, and a new path forward.

And let’s be honest, putting ourselves out there and doing something new and scary is terrifying. It’s uncomfortable. It shakes us. It can make us second-guess everything about ourselves.

But what’s the alternative?

I’ve heard the saying, “Wisdom is knowledge plus experience.” And the older I get, the more I see how true that is. Knowledge is the easy part. We can read the books, listen to the podcasts, attend the conferences, follow the experts, and soak in all the information. But wisdom… wisdom comes from getting messy with life. It comes from falling, learning, reflecting, and letting the experience change you.

Wisdom requires paying attention to the messages hidden inside your mistakes. It means allowing your experiences, especially the uncomfortable ones, to shape the way you see life in new, deeper, truer ways. It means letting your struggles become your teachers instead of your regrets. This is how we grow into more grounded, compassionate, aligned versions of ourselves.

Because here’s the truth: when we only allow in the intellectual information, we may know things… but we haven’t earned the “in the trenches” wisdom that only comes from living it. Real transformation happens in the moments we’d rather avoid. It’s in the fear, the unknown, the risks, and the vulnerable steps forward that growth and self-discovery actually take place.

As scary as those chapters can be, that’s where real life is. That’s where you feel, awaken, and evolve.

I’ve had to face some tough chapters myself. For a long time, I could teach and preach what I knew, but it wasn’t until life forced me through the messy middle that I really understood what I had been talking about all these years. I wasn’t practicing what I preached at the depth life was asking me to. And if I’m honest, fear overtakes more of my mind now than it used to when I was younger. Maybe that’s hormones. Maybe that’s age. Maybe that’s life reminding me I’m still growing, still becoming.

But what I do know is this: no one gets through life without some form of hardship or discomfort. And we shouldn’t. There’s purpose in it. Knowledge and insight are helpful and necessary, but when everything falls apart or stops working the way it used to, and we are forced to make a new choice, that moment of decision is where the true growth happens.

In my world of hormone health, those are the “aha” moments for women. When you finally quiet the noise, the hot flashes, the brain fog, the weight gain, the anxiety (oh the anxiety), you begin to see how much these symptoms have been pulling you away from your true self. They cloud your instincts. They create doubt. They derail your confidence and your inner knowing.

But when you begin to understand the root cause of what’s going on in your body… when you finally see that it’s not “just in your head”… something powerful happens.

You return home to yourself.

You reconnect with your authenticity, your intuition, your clarity, and your inner strength. Fear softens, self-trust rebuilds, healing begins, and not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually too.

This is what self-empowerment looks like.

This is the freedom we are all craving.

Embrace the Invitation
Fear is an invitation to get curious: What might be waiting on the other side? What lessons, relationships, or breakthroughs have you been shelving because they felt “too risky”? Today, lean forward into that uncertainty, and let your experiences teach you, then watch as you emerge stronger, wiser, and more alive than ever before.

"When fear no longer runs the show, and you do, that’s where peace nourishes and joy lives." -Amy Haugen

— Amy, MA, NBC‑HWC, Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach