FEAR !!
” You better not jump too high, you might fall”
” Do not stay out too late, something bad can happen to you”
” You have to get a good job, or you cannot pay your bills”
” Do not get your boss cross, you might get into trouble”
These are such examples from an infinitely long list of fears or excuses that are instilled into us right from our tender child hood days. We perpetuate these fears into our children as a means of control. The stern look, the pointy finger, the shaking of the head, with the deep voice of ” NO” that dissuade us from doing anything that is other than some one else’s will. Fear is used as a tool by others for control or to prevent you from moving forward. We are so instinctively used to believing others rather than our own truths that we are led down a primrose path of falsehood. We end up simply reacting. My theory on FEAR is it is an acronym for Falsely Elevated Action Reaction.
Every time we are exposed to a thought, an idea, a word, it is an action. We usually react to these things from a place within us not of truth but from preprogrammed set of reactions developed since birth. Depending on how that reaction made us feel at the original point of insult, we then will repeat that same response when exposed to the stimulus. Almost like our immune system that reacts to block off an invading foreign organism, our preprogrammed reactions return to counter act the actions. These reactions may be inappropriate but that is what leads to this concept of fear. Understanding this idea is the first step to awareness and battling this fear.
Imagine a lion. Ferocious, scary, dangerous. These descriptions will give you the idea that the lion is an animal to fear. Majestic, powerful, protective, strong. These descriptions will give you the idea that the lion is an animal to love. The lion has not changed its nature. Yet 2 different perspectives make it appear either lovable or fearful. These are reactions proposed by the 2 separate observers based in part to the feelings not facts that they have experienced in their lifetimes. One was told that the lion was to be feared and the other was told that the lion was to be loved and admired. These are just reactions to actions and falsely elevated since neither are correct. Having understood this idea, you can now move forward with this awareness and so enlightened you can be more cognizant of the moment you “feel” the fear.
When meditating I try to envision all the fears coming at me all at once, and when they have entirely encompassed me, I then shine my own light back at them through the engulfing darkness. I realize that they are fake reactions to baseless ideas pinned somewhere deep into my subconscious. I then thank them for their service and let the fears go. In so doing I have neither subjected myself to the actions or reactions and the F.E.A.R cycle is broken. Do not let yourself be clouded with this idea of fear that will paralyze you and holding you back from seizing your divine destiny to create, to be happy, to be full of joy.
React or not to react that is the question !!
