During difficult or uncertain times, it's easy for our thoughts to spiral. We often think of the worst-case scenario, and each fearful thought breeds another. You've probably noticed this at some point in your life. Sometimes these thoughts are so powerful, they cause us to become overwhelmed and shut down.

Mindfulness helps us slow down, pause, and observe our thoughts and emotions in the moment. This helps us cope with challenges because we're interrupting those fearful thought patterns and preventing ourselves from ruminating over the situation.

There’s one thing commonly at the core of our hesitations. It’s why we don’t take that step forward, try that new yoga class, launch a new product or service or look for a new job.

That one thing? Fear.

Fear is a natural response to the world around us. After all, our brains use fear to keep us safe. Think about it: when you’re about to get on a roller coaster or give a presentation to a new audience, you start to feel the physical symptoms of fear, like fast heartbeat, sweaty palms and butterflies in your stomach.

That’s normal. But, we run into trouble when we’re held back by our perceived fears. The fears that we worry about and agonize over that aren’t really things we need to be afraid of.

Things like public speaking, interviewing for a new job, asking someone on a date. Those are perceived fears. We fear the end result – something that hasn’t even happened!

The bad news is that those fears can cripple us, cause anxiety, depression and keep us in our comfort zones.

The good news: fear is only as powerful as we make it.