There is one core thing that stops us from living our best life and that is fear.
The type of fear I'm referencing here is not fear of imminent danger, but rather fear that springs forth from something we believe. Oftentimes these fears aren't even factual, just thoughts we keep thinking. They are things that aren't actually happening, but because it occurred in the past, we believe it will happen again. They are fabrications shaped from our unpleasant past experiences. But it's all in our heads. Fear is just an illusion that once faced, will dissolve into the nothingness that it really is.
One way we keep fear alive is by side-stepping things that take us out of our comfort zones. Expressing how we feel for example, regardless of what it might be, means being vulnerable and that can be scary. Withholding our true feelings, seeking approval, telling lies or reshaping ourselves to belong are just a few indicators that we are afraid on some level.
When we're afraid of something, we resist it. When we resist something, it persists. Why? Because everything is energy and energy must flow. When we dam up this flow by trying to avoid something we're afraid of, it never works in the long run because we're still walking around with that angst inside us. As long as we do, we will continue drawing to us the perfect situations and people that will spark it. This is life's way of nudging us to finally turn and face it.
Just like growing up to discover the boogeyman under the bed was just a figment of our imagination, fear is the great deceiver that can only hold us captive within its dungeonous walls until we realize the walls aren't even real.