"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 pulmonary hypertension (PH), 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 PH 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 PH 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 PH." – Member of myPHteam

Here are recent conversations from myPHteam members:

• "When I'm feeling down I listen to my song and it helps give me the extra push to do something to get out of the slump. Meaning time to fight back and take back my life as much as I can."
• "My first step was to manage depression. Then I had to get control of my weight & think positive. Now I’m reinventing myself (the old life I can no longer do physically) = work in progress!"
• "Morning all. We made it it's Monday ya...I'm a little short winded but not too bad and I'm not in pain from my surgery. Everyone have a great Monday. Breathe easy."

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.