FEAR AS A FRIEND

I recently came across the following article and felt it spoke volumes to me.  We all experience fear in so many ways - fear of failure or acceptance, fear of snakes and spiders and numerous other phobias, fear of changing course or looking for a new job.  Maybe our biggest fear is simply fear of change....

Fear can be so negative it is almost paralysing.  However if we change our view and begin to see fear as something positive we can then start to face up to what is creating the fear and use the fear to drive us into action.  The fear will melt away and we will be filled with a sense of achievement and fulfilment.

But, as in all things, we need to make sure we act and not react!  Action is inspired by planning, experience and the desire to achieve the best outcome in the longterm but reaction is all too often a short-term knee-jerk reaction which in itself often propagates the inital fear which caused it. 

"The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react" - George Bernard Shaw

FEAR AS A FRIEND: HOW IT CAN LEAD TO WISDOM & LIBERATION

by Rasheed Ogunlaru

Without doubt, fear is perhaps the most misunderstood and paralysing ‘feeling’ that you may wrestle with in life.  Sometimes simply because of its name, we feel that we should be afraid of it. But this is not the case.

By understanding and being mindful of fear we can actually appreciate it, value it, learn from it and find deeper wisdom and liberation through it.

FEAR IS YOUR FRIEND

Fear is not your enemy. It is a natural happening that is there to alert you, serve you, protect you, warn you and encourage you to find you.

Fear – like most things – only becomes problematic when we don’t understand it, deny it or fear it.

FEAR AS AN ALERT

Fear is there to alert you to a situation. A car or wild animal rushes toward us. You feel fear. The adrenalin in you makes you take drastic action to get out of the way. If you are hurt the fear-released chemicals in your body help numb the pain.

Fear lets you know you need to act fast. In this way fear will save your life. Fear will stop you doing something that is life-threatening.

FEAR AS FUEL

The nature of our world is change. Fear can help you stay awake and up to date. You are afraid that you’re not going to have enough money left at the end of the month so you start cut out all unnecessary spend. You learn that the company may be shut down, so you’re alert and this fuels you to update your CV and start looking for new positions.

Fear in this case is again about helping us to survive progress and move forward.

FEAR AND SELF-REALISATION

I have a saying: “Sooner or later you will hear what your heart has always been telling you; stop being who you think you should be – become who you are”.

You see sometimes the fear you feel is because you are not listening to your ‘self’. Instead you‘re constantly trying to please everyone else. You feel these nagging doubts and fears but ignore them. You think it is a scary thing but actually this type of fear is inviting you to stop being overly caught up in your mind and to discover who you are at your heart.

Once you hear this calling it will lead you to a deep sense of understanding, joy and wisdom.

Fear will always be there but you will know it is far more a friend than a foe.