"Replace fear-based thinking with love-based thinking. Every time you're making a choice, ask yourself if it's going to cultivate the experience of unity and love or the experience of separation and stress." – Deepak Chopra

We all experience fear. When it comes to living with a chronic condition like Parkinson's disease, fear can manifest in many ways.

Sometimes our initial diagnosis gives us fears about our quality of life. Dealing with the realities of our "new normal," with Parkinson's can put us in a chronically fearful state of mind. Will I have a flare today? Will I be able to attend to my daily tasks pain-free? Fear about outcomes that are beyond our control can facilitate fear taking root.

"I finally came to realize that my fears about having Parkinson's and what that could potentially mean were ADDING to my pain. Once I consciously decided to relieve myself of that burden I could better focus on managing my Parkinson's." – Member of MyParkinsonsTeam

Here are recent conversations from MyParkinsonsTeam members:

• "I divorced my wife and a year ago. I am afraid to start a relationship and putting a burden on someone new but I do get lonely."
• "There are many types of challenges – PD provides an endless succession of them. Some come at us from unexpected places or situations and these can be worrisome. People being what they are, they meet, confront and fight them. There are many ways to do this. Fanfare, courage, rally cries, mutual support – these are the most visible, and they are important because they energize others by using them."
• "My thought is that we're all at different stages of PD, so we can't really comment on what other people feel. Unless that is that we're in the final stages and have been through all the others, even then though this disease is so personal to different individuals that it's hard to generalize on different things."

Dealing with fear will look different for everyone. Sometimes it means arguing with our intrusive thoughts. Sometimes it looks like meditating to clear the mind.
How do you stop fear from taking over? Join the conversation below.