When Fear Disguises Itself As Logic (And How to Move Past The Excuses)

When Fear Sounds Reasonable: Moving Past Excuses and Taking the Next Right Step

Host Ariana Reinhart explores how fear often disguises itself as “reasonable” excuses that keep us stuck, and shares tools to move forward anyway. 

She recounts nearly canceling a long-dreamed Maui trip due to anxiety about injuries, safety, and claustrophobia, then calming her nervous system through visualization and by acknowledging anxiety while refusing to let it “drive the bus,” which led to an expansive, spiritually clarifying experience. 

She describes meaningful wildlife encounters—especially sea turtles (Honu) and peak-season humpback whales—and emphasizes noticing life’s small magical moments. 

Ariana connects these lessons to other growth edges like starting a podcast and booking flights to speak at a Portland conference in April 2026, urging listeners to visualize success, act before feeling ready, and stop procrastinating. She invites support through guided soul-journey activations and offers sessions and Wednesday evening group events.

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Transcript

Ariana 0:00

You know those times when you intend to do something or you know what that next right move is, but then your brain comes up with these so-called reasonable excuses of why you should not do the thing? And that leaves you feeling paralyzed, and so you just don't take that step forward? That's what we're talking about in today's episode. We're uncovering how fear hides behind reasonable excuses. They seem reasonable, but are they really? We know deep down that that action is what will bring us results, but our ego wants to keep us safe and in the space of what we know. And so it tricks us into believing that that said action isn't actually important or it doesn't need to be completed. On the contrary, it's exactly the right move to make. And today we're going to talk about setting that fear aside and going after it. By the way, if you can't wait to hear more from this podcast, hit the follow button or share your thoughts with me on Instagram at Balanced Soul Awakening. It truly inspires me to hear your stories and the things that really resonated with you from these episodes. So please reach out it. Now it's time to grab your favorite drink. Settle in and let's get started. You are not too much. You are not too sensitive. You are not too late. Welcome to Reclaiming Me, the podcast for the woman who's ready to stop shrinking and start coming home to herself. Whether you're driving home from another long shift, walking your dog under a quiet sky, or trying to outrun the voice that says you're not enough, this space is for you. I'm your host, Ariana Reinhart, speaker, coach, and your guide on this journey of undoing the noise, shedding the pressure, and rising into who you were always meant to be. This show explores what it really means to heal from toxic patterns, rebuild your confidence, and reclaim the love and life you actually deserve. Here we talk self-worth, healing, boundaries, power, and the sacred process of becoming. Because you were never meant to fit in. You're on the journey back to who you were before the world told you who to be. This is your invitation. Let's begin. So I almost stopped myself from going to Maui. I knew in my soul, in my gut that this trip was going to be incredibly expansive and life changing. I knew that I was gonna gain so much clarity and like have the time of my fricking life on it, and I knew that I was gonna come back a different version of myself, but still, I let that fear and that anxiety creep in. My brain told me that I would be in too much pain to handle the flights with my current injuries. It came up with the excuse that I might not be safe to go. And this is one that everyone laughs at me about, but I am fairly claustrophobic and so my mind kept like meandering into having issues with going to the washroom on the plane. For any of you claustrophobic people, you get me. Those frigging plane bathrooms are so small and it's such a weird feeling where you're like, if the plane tilts or there's turbulence or something and you're trying to go to the bathroom, like it's just, it's not really comfortable. And so my brain just kept focusing on that and worrying about that, and I was like, oh my God. And it would just create so much anxiety. It became so intense that I literally almost bailed on the trip that I had been so excited for, that I had waited years for. Like, it has been my dream to go to Hawaii for years and years. I have a folder on my desktop of pictures of Ka'anapali and the places that I wanted to go, and just all the things that I wanted to do in Maui. And every time that I would lack motivation or that I just needed that little pick me up, I would open that folder and look at those pictures. Like I have been dreaming of this for a long time. And yet I let that fear get so intense that I honestly contemplated not going. So what did I do to calm my nervous system? How did I move past that fear? First, I continued day after day to get myself into alignment and to tune into the energy of like just how freaking amazing it would be. I allowed myself to visualize having successful flights, having an amazing trip, having so much fun, how connected I would feel, how free I would feel, because I knew in my heart that all those things were true. And then the day of, the day that we were leaving, when my anxiety would spike, I would have a conversation with it. I knew if I tried to push it away and pretend that it didn't exist, it would become more persistent. So I acknowledged it. I told the anxiety, I see you. I told it that it was valid and it had every right to be there, and I thanked it for keeping me safe. But then I told it that while it had every right to be there, it wasn't allowed to drive the bus. It could sit in the passenger seat and keep an eye out for danger, but it wasn't allowed to take over. And as soon as it was acknowledged and appreciated, the anxiety would calm down. Then any time it would feel like it sensed a potential threat, of course it would begin to spike again, and I would have the same conversation with it. I got on that plane, multiple planes actually, and I had what was probably the most amazing trip of my life. Yes, I dealt with high levels of pain on the flight there. That was a reasonable fear that my ego was bringing to light. But the result was more than worth it. And following through with my plans, with going on the trip, they taught my ego and my fears that we could survive what we perceived as threats. And here's the interesting thing that many of us don't actually pay attention to. On the flight's back, I didn't have any anxiety and I had significantly less pain, even with a lack of sleep. Like we had a red eye on the way back and I did not sleep on the plane. I slept for maybe about two-ish hours in the airport on em in Edmonton, um, which was our connecting flight. And normally in those situations, my pain levels would be spiking, but I had less pain on the way back, way less than I did on the way there. And that's because my nervous system was calmer. It knew that we could handle the task at hand. It knew that we could handle the flights and it didn't need to freak out. So sometimes we just have to push through our fears and through those so-called reasonable excuses and do what we know will bring about change. I am so incredibly grateful for our trip to Maui. I knew it was going to break me open spiritually, but like I had no idea what was actually coming. I have never felt so connected, so alive, so carefree, so tuned into nature and just so myself as I did during that vacation. My soul felt like it was finally home. I felt like I belonged and I haven't had that feeling in quite some time. There was a sense, or like a feeling kind of like I was one with the land and, and like when they talk about the Maui pull, it is real. All of our exploring brought me into a deeper sense of who I am at my core, and I was able to enter into altered states of consciousness like on a whim. It brought me many revelations and a new sense of direction that I had previously felt like I was lacking. And then there were the sea turtles. The Honu. Right from the start, I felt this like indescribable connection to them. And we came across some turtles basking on our first day there, which was quite cool'cause you don't always see them. And then I had the amazing opportunity to continue to be in their presence for the first half of our trip. There was one day that last minute Branden and I decided to hit up a different beach, and initially when we were going there and we first got there, we were planning on snorkeling, but it ended up not being in the cards for that day. So we hung out on the beach for a little bit and then a while later we decided to go in the water and it was crystal clear, like it was absolutely beautiful. Then the next thing I know, a sea turtle is swimming right up to me. Like we're waist deep and this sea turtle is coming right for me. I actually had to step out of his way. The next day I went snorkeling with friends who live there while Branden was out diving. We had the opportunity to see multiple turtles and one of them swam over and just hung out by me. At one point I had turned and kind of lost sight of him. And the next thing I know, my friend was pulling me away because this turtle was too close. And so for any of you who don't know, sea turtles are protected there, so you're supposed to stay a minimum of 10 feet away from them. Then the next day they took me snorkeling at a bay in a different section on the island, and I had another turtle swim right up to me and he was hanging out there for several minutes. It was really cool. And then I looked up a few minutes later and there was another turtle relaxing a few feet away as well, and they're just like hanging out there, both of them at the same time. Finally, my friend commented that she was surprised about the behavior of these turtles because they usually try to like stay away from people. So I told her that this kept happening to me. She asked her friend who said the Honu or the sea turtles are probably my, what they call aumakua, which is like a spiritual protector and they protect your energy. So that was really neat and I just felt this like profound deep connection to them. But for the last half of our trip, I was somewhat sad because I hadn't had any more encounters with'em and I was kind of getting like a little bit disappointed, um, because there was a day that we were going to this beach and we were gonna snorkel, but it has like a big break there. Um, and so you often can't really snorkel at that beach. So we decided not to bring our equipment. And then that day it was super calm. There are a bunch of people snorkeling and of course everyone is yelling about how they saw turtles. Then the last day we went snorkeling. Um, so this was the last day I could go because I was getting my tattoo the next day and we didn't see any turtles again. Then as we were heading back in, someone was like, oh my God, there's a turtle over here. And they saw one and we were literally just right there. And I was like, what is going on? And so we got to see plenty of whales, which was really, really cool. They were so incredible and they were so much fun to watch. You could literally sit on the beach and watch them breaching or doing tail slaps, all kinds of things, and it was a lot of fun. They're humpback whales and they come down from Alaska in like November, December until usually about April. They swim down from Alaska to Hawaii to have their babies and then mamas teach their babies like how to do all these things and how to get strong, and then they swim back up to Alaska. So we were kind of there during peak whale season. It was so amazing. And we even had the opportunity to witness a mama teaching her baby how to breach and how to tail slap. So we would watch Mama do it and then baby would do it. And then there was a point in time where like they were both doing something and it was just so much fun. It was so cool to see. But I didn't get to spend any more time with the Honu So on our last day there, I asked the turtles to come say goodbye. And we went for a sunset walk with our friends along the beach. Literally right before we had to leave, like I'm talking, we walked back to the vehicle and went to the airport after this. And as we came around this bend, we'd already been walking for a bit. My friend stopped and said that she was pretty sure a woman quite a ways down, was taking a picture of a turtle. So she asked if we wanted to go walk over there and see. It was a bit of a jaunt, but did we want to go? And so I told her, you know what? Like I asked'em to come say goodbye, so I should probably walk over there She was a big turtle and they often spend hours on the beach. They sometimes even stay overnight resting. We spent a little bit of time hanging out with her, which was really cool. I posted a picture of it on my Facebook page if you wanna see, just like how fricking happy I am to have this experience with this turtle. And then we decided, okay, we should probably get going. Like we gotta go to the airport. And as soon as we turned around and started walking away, she also turned around and went back into the ocean. We watched her make her way back in. I strongly believe that she came to say goodbye, and that filled my heart so deeply. Then on our way back in the exact spot where my friend initially saw the woman taking pictures, two more turtles popped their heads up as we were walking by. It was an incredible last few moments, and I was so grateful. So because I asked and they listened, I was greeted by the Honu on my first and my last day in Maui. Sometimes you just have to ask and trust that if it is in alignment, it will happen. Your prayers will be answered. It is in those little moments where the most magical things can happen. The problem is that we often don't take the time to see and appreciate them because we're always hustling or we're rushing by so that we don't miss out on the next thing. But from my experience, taking it all in and being grateful for the beauty around you, that's what makes life so much more enjoyable. That's how you find happiness. We don't experience growth if we're not willing to expand outside of our comfort zones. We have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. The new is always going to feel scary at first. That saying, you're gonna wonder how to do it until you wonder how you did it, is so true. But so many of us stop ourselves. We're too scared to be seen trying. I know I've had this issue. It's something that I'm trying to work through. We're too scared to fail and to learn. But we all have to start somewhere. And so instead we settle and then we wonder why we're living these mediocre lives that don't make us like truly happy that we don't have this passion for. But why wouldn't we want to experience all that life has to offer? Why don't we see just how amazing things can get? We've been so programmed to expect the worst. Think about it, like how often do you anticipate things working out perfectly? We have the power of choice and for some reason we almost always envision like the worst case scenario, all the things that can go wrong. Why do we do that? Some of us convince ourselves that it's because we don't wanna be disappointed or we don't wanna be let down. And so we don't wanna have these high expectations. But in reality, it's the way we've been programmed to think. I want you to take a second to think about an athlete. Before they perform they are taught to visualize themselves going through their program or like playing the game and it being a success As a figure skater, every time before I was about to compete, I would go and sit by the ice and I would run through my program in my mind. I would see myself landing all my jumps, having the perfect spins and skating a clean program. There's a reason athletes are taught to do that. So why do we manage to do the exact opposite in our everyday life? Why do we imagine things going wrong? Why do we imagine ourselves failing at something? And if you're sitting there thinking like I do visualize things going successfully, good on you. You are in the minority, my friend. So keep it up. We have the power of choice. We have the power to believe that we can do something. We have the power to change our lives. We can make things happen that at one point we couldn't like even dream to be possible. And how often do you hear that from celebrities or from famous people in some way. All these stories that inspire us because they came from nothing. They went from sleeping in their car to becoming multimillionaires or billionaires. They felt like all the odds were against them, or they did have all the odds against them, but they believed in themselves. And they went after it and they had that drive and that passion, and they made it happen, and their life became so much greater than they could ever imagine. That is possible for you too. You are meant for amazing things. You have the power to light up the room when you walk in. You can change people's lives. You can change your life. You don't need to settle for mediocre. You just need to stop holding yourself back. Like I said, again, we have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. When we are expanding, when we are growing, that's not gonna be easy. And so it's, it's so easy for us to say like. Oh, I don't feel ready for this, or I'll do it next week. Or like, we have all these excuses that come up, right? And it's, if I do it next week, that's fine. Like it, it's just a week. It's not a big deal. But then next week comes and you still don't feel ready and so then it's, well now we'll do it next week. And you just keep putting it off and off and off and then it never gets done. And then you're still, two months later, five years later, in that exact same place, because you didn't do the thing. You are not going to feel ready. If it is an expansion, if it is new, if it is something that you're not used to, you're never gonna feel ready. You just gotta do it anyway. I didn't feel ready to start a podcast at all. I was terrified. It was like. Oh my God, what am I doing? Why am I doing, like, I knew that I really wanted to do it, but I still had those fears pop up. And then I did it and I was like, oh, this is actually a lot of fun. I'll share another story with you because this is also something where I had, you know, those fears and those excuses come up. So for those of you who don't know, I am speaking at a conference in Portland, Oregon in April of 2026. So I think it's like a month and a half from when I'm recording this. I know this is a great experience, and I have done some public speaking, but public speaking is still scary for me. Which for a lot of us it is. When I applied to be a speaker, I had asked that if it was in alignment, that if it was the right move for me to take, that I'd be accepted. And it was like, okay, this is kind of scary that I'm doing this, whatever I'm putting in my application. And then I got the acceptance and I was like, oh my God, this is real. This is happening. Holy shit. What am I doing? Just all the thoughts started creeping in and I was freaking out. So then I kinda, you know, came to terms with it. It was like, okay, this, this is good. And I would tune in and I knew that this was the right move and I knew that it would be good for me, but still I kept putting off booking my flights to Portland. I had excuses like we had just talked about, I'm not ready. I don't wanna spend another thousand plus dollars when I just spent several thousand on a trip a couple of months ago. There's so many connecting flights. I don't know if it'll be worth it. In the past, those excuses would've instantly stopped me. I would've easily let the fear take over and not gone. But like I said, when I applied to be a speaker at this conference, I asked to be accepted if it was the right move for me to make, if it was in my highest and best good. And when I tuned in and felt into it and imagined myself speaking at this conference, my soul did a little happy dance. I was so excited every time I thought about going. It felt expansive and blissful. I knew that it was going to be a great opportunity for me and my growth. But still I continued to put off booking the flights. So finally one night, like there was a little bit of a sale going on and it was ending this night and I was like, okay, I need to actually get real about this. So I sat down and had chat with myself. I knew I needed a little kick in the ass to just do the damn thing. So I called my partner, had about a three minute chat telling him my little conundrum, which were the excuses that I was trying to tell myself. And I told him yeah, I just, I just needed you to say, just do it. I needed that kick in the ass. And then I booked those flights. The thing is booking the flights made it real. Like there are so many levels and layers to this stuff. So there was the getting accepted made it feel real. Now it was booking the flights, made it feel real. At that point, there's no going back. I didn't have the Econo Flex because it was gonna be over a thousand dollars just for that flight alone. So I was putting it off because a part of me was still scared to fully commit. My ego wanted that option to back out, even though my soul knew it was the right move. How many times do we stop ourselves from doing what we know is right? Probably a lot more than you realize. So I am gonna ask you a question. I want you to take a couple of deep breaths and tune in, breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. You can blow it out like you're blowing out a candle or do like an audible sigh and just allow yourself to relax and tune in to your body. And then make sure you have a pen and paper handy so that you can write down the answers. Because writing them down light grounds'em, and you're less likely to forget and more likely to follow through when you have that reminder, when you have it written on paper. Okay. Here it's if you could travel anywhere, anywhere, or if you could have anything that you could possibly want, of no cost to you, and you know for a fact that you would be successful in it, what would you dream up for yourself? Don't hold back. I'm talking anything you want. Maybe it's to have financial freedom to travel the world. Maybe it's to move across the world. Maybe it's to get fit and healthy so you can play with your grandchildren. Maybe it's become a multimillionaire to open your own bakery, to find your soulmate, to leave a toxic relationship or a workplace. Anything is possible. And then when you've got that figured out. I invite you to take a moment to close your eyes and imagine it happening to you right now. Imagine yourself completing it successfully or having that thing, what would it feel like? And the trick is to allow it to evoke an emotional response. How does it feel? And then if you do this day after day and start to live as though it's happening for you and you start to really, truly believe that it can happen, that you can do it because you can and you will, end of story. So I challenge you to start doing the things that you're putting off and to see how your life changes for the better. I'm not saying you're not gonna come across challenges, but that is where we learn. They say fail stands for first attempt in learning. And if it was easy, everyone would do it. Start talking nicer to yourself. Start valuing yourself. Start believing in yourself. See your worth. Start asking to see just how amazing things can get, and ask the universe for proof that you can do this. Then put in the action and take those aligned steps. If you can commit to doing that, I promise it will become easier and your life will improve. So what kind of life do you want to build for yourself? The thing is, sometimes we just have those limiting beliefs, those fears, those like intricacies and. Ancestral beliefs, all of that, that has kind of all balled up inside of us that we're holding onto. And a lot of time it's stuff that's not even ours. And so we have to untangle that and work through that sometimes before we can actually really start to value ourselves and to believe that it can happen. To believe that it is possible. So if that's the case, and if you want some support clearing that stress, clearing what you're holding onto on a deeper level, then I invite you to join me for a guided soul journey where we cleanse and clear all that heavy shit that you've been carrying. So that you can restore the divine flow within you and receive the downloads that are ready for you. Because when this flow is cut off, you are cut off from your power, from your intuition and from abundance. We have to let go of that density and those limiting beliefs in order to invite in what you truly want. And here's what one of my clients had to say about her experience when we cleared and expanded her energy container. I've always been someone with big energy, someone who could fill the room with my presence. But it wasn't until my activation session with Ariana that I realized that my energy was still being stifled and contained, that I was still making myself smaller energetically than what is natural for me. Ariana helped me to expand that tiny, too small bubble that my energy had grown accustomed to smooshing itself into, until I felt myself soaring as if gravity no longer had the upper hand. The expansion itself was a game changer. After our session, I walked through the world with an additional layer of confidence I didn't even know I needed. I embodied this boldness that I didn't exactly think was missing, but it was as if the best parts of me were expanded to an all new level. I am lucky in that I've always loved myself, but somehow I became able to love myself even more, and I was incredibly happy to show that to anyone wanting to see it. Perhaps this goes without saying, but I absolutely cannot wait until my next session with Ariana. I am telling you this work has changed my life, like for real. And it can happen so quickly if you allow yourself to open and receive and if you're willing to put in the work. And so I am so incredibly excited for this opportunity to share the amazing, incredible power of these activations and for others to see how incredible and how blissful life can be. Like I want that for you. I want everyone to realize that they can live a life that brings them so much joy and so much happiness, even with all the shit that is going on in this world right now. And I want you to be able to ripple that out to others simply through your energy as well. So if this piqued your interest and if you would like to learn more, please reach out to me so that we can discuss further, or you can directly book a session. You can find my information in the show notes, including how to book. And I am also doing a few free group meditations, activations. If you're curious, but you aren't quite ready to commit to a one-to-one session. I'll be doing those on Wes, not every Wednesday, but on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM Mountain Standard time. So you can reach out to me for more information or for the link as well. Okay, lovely. Thank you so much for tuning in today. If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe and rate the show. Your feedback helps us reach more people and create more impactful content. We truly appreciate it. You are not too much. You are not behind. You are not broken. You are worthy. You are whole and you are already everything you're seeking. This is reclaiming me. Until next time, be gentle. Be bold, be you.