Fear is a valid expression that should be allowed to be what it is.

You won't ever get rid of it for it is an essential protective mechanism that keeps you informed.

Just understanding the consequences of giving it more meaning than it deserves is enough to keep fear in its proper place.

Have you noticed that every vacation or journey of pleasure is never free from things going wrong?

Here you are trying to have a good time, and your expectation of perfection is often blemished with some little thing always ruining the perfect vision you had about your trip within your imagination.

There is no perfection in the inner exploration of self.

If you are trying to clean up the inside so that the resulting outer physical experience is also uplifted and free from the usual inner turmoil and doubt, there is no such destination where you can arrive at to finally declare "I have now mastered the art of bringing my inner self in harmony with the outer self"

There is always incompleteness and always a little bit of un-sureness.

It is this that drives you towards "why not?" and "why not more?"

But you can't get to it because it isn't there.

It is calling you from just beyond where ever you are at.

The promise of being just a little better, a little more compete, a little happier, a little closer to perfect.

It is a built-in imbalance.

You can't get to "smooth without problems" with this imbalance that is built in.

To try and resolve it is as disconcerting as giving attention to your breathing and coming to realize that your very life and survival depends on this continuous un-broken rhythm of breathing in and breathing out.

The burden of responsibility upon your lungs to keep you alive is something you don't want to give too much attention to because in doing so you will see what a fine thread of in-breath and out-breath keeps you constantly suspended between life and death.

Likewise in searching for perfection you will examine your inner development with finer and finer scrutiny and expectation only to realize that there is more and more to yourself that needs to be fixed.

Just let it go and do what you fell like doing at the moment and be OK with it.

Who cares that it is not smooth and susceptible to unproductive inner distraction.

How many paintings can you paint before you have explored the fullest potential of your inner canvas?

That place is as un-reachable as trying to catalog every possible way one can paint on canvas.

There is no "right" technique to master the inner self any more than there is a right way to be the perfect human.

(And that is not a question to invoke a biblically inspired answer)

To be OK with where ever you are at IS the point of balance.

Obstacles are an issue that we can think of in many different forms. I have a sign in my room that says "Obstacles crumble before my will." I used to imagine something like the walls of Jericho crumbling down, like the song "When the walls come crumbing down" I would imagine this. After a while it just became something in the background but I have to wonder if it is enforcing the idea I have obstacles that I must always battle.

I have studied about other religions and the Hindu God that crushes obstacles is Ganesha, that elephant looking guy. He crushes obstacles as I remember reading about. I suppose given an image of a strong powerful being on your side smashing down walls for you would be a help to faith that the way is made clear for you. I believe we could experience the same with Jesus similar to Moses he waves his hand and calms the storms. If we put our problems in the hands of someone higher than us very capable of handling it we know it will get handled.

But now I have another way this could be handled, praying to God to see the illusion of the obstacles. To see that the tiger you are fearing is a paper tiger behind a screen. So this way you see the obstacles but then see that they are false illusion and you are cared for. This is like awakening in the dream to understand it is your dream and everything you fear is just a creation of the current thought you have so it is nothing bu an illusion that appears real as an obstacle.

But the best way I can image now is to pray, "Jesus walk before that my way is made clear." This puts the mind on the clarity of the path. There are no obstacles to be cleared as they have been cleared already before you got to them to see any obstacles. It is like hiring a guide to guide you through a dark jungle but you are safely guided as he says, "follow me."

When we say, "Is there anything to fear?" Yes there is. When we say, "Is there anything to find?" Yes there is. When we say, "Is there anything to rejoice over?" Yes there is. It is written Ask and you will be answered, Seek and you will find, Knock and the door will open. A.S.K. As long as we look we will find because of the fact that we are looking for something means what we seek we will find because that is the way our minds work for us.

If we were in a restaurant and I wanted a burger I could get that burger by saying, "I don't want this, I don't want that.", going through the entire menu until the only thing left is the burger, then I get my burger. Or I could just ask for the burger. The first way is the eliminating all the obstacles to get the burger. The second way is more direct instead of eliminating what I don't want until I get to what I do want, I go after what I do want in the first place.

Well first off I would say that if your affirmation doesn't feel right when you say it or think it, then there may be a little bit of resistance showing up to give you a signal that something might need to be tweaked. You just have to recognize how the phrase feels because you are the one in charge of what is being said and there are no right or wrong rules to abide by, just what feels right or wrong to you.

In my opinion, affirmations should be completely positive pertaining to the desired outcome that you want to have in this very moment. Bringing up the word "obstacle" just to justify the situation that you wish to solve is unnecessary. It just may take a little time to think of a new way to express what you want in words.

I ask for my inner understanding to move all obstacles out of the way. What I'm getting at is I want the job to be smooth and with out problems.

So a better way of expressing this without using the word obstacle could be as follows.

"I expect the current job I'm involved in to run smoothly and efficiently and I know it will be done in a timely and precise manner that works best for me."

"Everything is working out just fine with my current job and it's good to know that I am very much up to the task at hand."

These are just a few examples without the word "obstacle." I'm not saying that using that word is bad, that decision is up to you. If you ever feel that something doesn't fit right for whatever it is that you desire, then all you need to do it take some time and reword or reevaluate how you want to express yourself.

It's like going to a restaurant and knowing you want a sirloin steak with potatoes. When the waiter comes for your order, you don't think and worry about the grill or oven not working. You know that you want a delicious steak with potatoes and can envision it sitting in front of you right now. You tell him the exact order in detail just the way you want it because you know it can happen without a doubt. There is no need to even bring up the thought (or obstacle) of the oven or grill not working.

Stick with what works best for you in your affirmations and there will be no need to fear doing them the wrong way. If you are getting positive results with a certain method then give yourself a pat on the back and continue the process.