FEAR FORWARD

Fear.  It is pervasive in our world and has been for a very long time.  We are expected to live at an inhumane pace and under conditions which set off our inner “danger, danger” alarms on a very regular basis. 

For centuries now, fear mongering has been used to control the masses by those who want to hold power – land, wealth, control. Lately, it seems to be a full-on contact sport for many. 

And so, we are conditioned to be in fear. It has become our norm, our default setting, hasn’t it? 

I, personally, have spent most of my life in fear. And I’ve learned not to let it hold me back. 

Because that’s what we are conditioned to do.  Much like sheep under the constant “guidance” of sheep dogs, we feel fear and are initially paralyzed, then often run and given our human capabilities, we somehow align ourselves with whatever or whoever is creating the fear. Flight/fight/freeze/fawn is the commonly used verbiage in psychology to describe this phenomenon yet the most common reaction to ongoing fear mongering tends to be “freeze”. Fear often stops us in our tracks, doesn’t it? And for millennia now, fear has been used to control the masses, to allow those in power (or who want to be) to manipulate us as individuals, families, cultures and societies. 

 We avoid feeling fear like the plague. And it limits us in myriad ways.

 So, what about changing this pattern? What about allowing ourselves to feel the fear, to sit with it? To let it become a companion, often a constant one.  There are so many practices to allow this – breathwork, self-talk, tonglen are only a few. This week – more honestly the past several months – has presented plenty of opportunity to be with the fear rather than avoiding it and I’ll freely admit that I’ve been dusting off and using ALL the tools in my bag of tricks.

Because here’s what I have learned in my own life: if you befriend fear, if you can learn to coexist with it, it becomes the opposite of paralyzing. 

Fear becomes fuel.  And for those of us who believe in freedom, equality and growth for all, we are going to need a whole lot of fuel for the long road ahead.  So let’s use all this fear being foisted on us for good, shall we? Let’s befriend it or at least let it sit next to us, let’s rest and regulate ourselves and then, let’s go. 

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