Overcoming Fear and Avoidance: Building Consistency for Allah’s Pleasure

﷽

What you avoid points directly to what you fear. And what you fear becomes your braking point.

There are comfort zones, and right outside of them is tolerable discomfort. Beyond that lies your braking point.

Think of the moments when you avoided something you knew would be a game changer if you actually committed to it. If you truly tried, showed up, and followed through on the promise you made to yourself.

What made you hit the brakes?

• “Lack” of time, energy, resources, clarity?

• Fear of criticism, judgment, failure, uncertainty?

• People’s discouragement or envy?

• Doubts of worthiness or that it’s even destined for you?

People don’t deserve our fears.

And even our fears aren’t worthy of our fear.

Feeling fear and not wanting to experience pain and discomfort is natural, but stopping in our tracks to avoid it only gives a false sense of safety now while harming us in the long run, both in this life and the next.

Why?

Because a drop of water added to another every day will eventually fill a glass, then a bucket, then a pool. But if the drops stop, the water evaporates.

Each small effort compounds, building momentum. Turning addition into multiplication.

But just as “an object in motion stays in motion, and an object at rest stays at rest”, idleness compounds too.

If you struggle with avoidance or inconsistency, it’s usually because the next step feels too large and too close to your braking point. 

Aim instead for the area of tolerable discomfort.

Where it’s challenging enough to stimulate you without overwhelm, and just outside your skill level to foster growth without anxiety.

This is how you change your relationship with doing hard things. Because la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah, with the help of Allah ﷻ and the guidance of the Qur’an and the Prophet ﷺ, you can do hard things. And in doing so, you increase your threshold and tolerance to discomfort.

You just have to make the first step smaller.

Make the new habit, the new skill, the new character trait easier to do than to avoid. This removes friction, builds momentum, and stacks your efforts.

Everything starts with one step, then another.

One day, then another.

And alhamdulillah, the size and even the pace of your steps doesn’t actually matter.

There will be times you need to slow down, to listen to your life, and allow answers to naturally come to you. But even then you don’t stop entirely.

Stopping breaks momentum.

Avoidance breaks momentum.

So yes, what you avoid points directly to what you fear. And it also points to the very direction you should be heading. Because the more you do the thing, the less you fear it. And the more your fear shifts to what truly matters: losing Allah’s guidance and pleasure.

Guard your time, energy, and attention, because everything is out to steal them.

Build safety nets around your ‘ibadah so it never fully stops, in sha Allah.

And don’t forget to track your progress as a way to witness Allah’s mercy in your life.

Every small step, every repeated effort, every moment you show up is a sign of His guidance and your willingness to follow it.

It reminds you where you started, and how far He has brought you.

Let your tracking be a reflection. A gentle acknowledgment of His favor.

Because if discomfort is the cost of a fulfilling life with Allah ﷻ, then so be it.

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With love and dua,

—Khalisa