LIFE – Let it flow easy!
FEAR! They say that human beings inherently are born with only two kinds of fear. Essentially as babies the only fear we have is that of falling and loud noises. I am not too sure about the basis of this theory or any experimental studies which corroborate the theory. However, from own experiential perspective, these two fears seem to be correct. I do feel that fear when making that transition from light sleep to deep sleep stage which ends up with a sense of falling and results in kicking of the leg. And what always startles me is a sudden loud noise. Another factor to take note of is that we do not spend time fantasizing or imagining these two fears – although they are always right there, hidden somewhere and surface only when the event occurs. There is no imagination of “ what if’s”. Those fears arise at that very moment and pass away once that particular moment ends unlike the other fears which linger on, we think about, visualize and which go round and round in our heads. The “what if’s” just don’t end.
So then what about the other fears we have – fear of death, fear of failure, fear of being rejected, fear of losing money, fear of being vulnerable and being hurt, fear of losing our job, fear of losing a loved one, fear of being alone, and of course the latest bug FOMO (fear of missing out)? I believe that insecurity is just another form of fear. We can spend our entire day or even life-time worrying about these without these very events really happening. So are these really acquired fears? Is fear different from the instinct of survival?
FEAR – of all the dictionary meanings that I searched for I found the detailed explanation on Wikipedia most interesting.
“Fear is a feeling induced by perceived danger or threat that occurs in certain types of organisms, which causes a change in metabolic and organ functions and ultimately a change in behavior, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events. Fear in human beings may occur in response to a certain stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to body or life. The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat, which in extreme cases of fear can be a freeze response or paralysis.”
Take note of the words – anticipation or expectation in the future. Expectations or anticipation means mind working with thousands of thoughts moving at microseconds speed about something which is yet to happen – FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL. It’s nothing but a fabrication or rather day dreaming of something that may or may not happen in the future. Fear then is just an emotion – energy in motion. Energy which then depending on the intensity paralyzes us, or results in acute anxiety attack or even depression. It changes the chemical composition within the brain and thus in turn the body. Queasiness in the stomach, trembling hands or legs, pounding of the heart etc is a physical indication of what’s happening at the level of the mind.
Our mind / our lives oscillate between reliving the past and worrying / contemplating about the future. Very seldom are we focused on the present moment. Any kind of fear is no-thing but something that prevents us from living the present moment, being grateful for and enjoy what is there for us at that moment. How many times do we feel grateful for the job we have, for the things we own, for the life that we have, for the health, wellness or even the suffering which is a doorway for us to take a different action.
Fear originates first as a thought and then translates into feelings and physical state of being. The feelings of uneasiness, anxiousness is like a guiding torch / an indicator telling us that we have moved away from what is really happening at that moment. That our imagination has taken over what we are really experiencing in our present situation. We are out there in the future whilst life is happening now. So the only way to ease us of FEAR is to bring us back to whatever is present in our life at that point in time.
All enlightened masters have said that the opposite of love is not hate but fear. Since the law of duality is forever working, clearly in moments of fear, we are not loving ourselves. For when one is there, the other is not. Fear takes us further away from our true loving selves.
If one were to list down all the possible fears we may have and go deeper into their origin – there will be just one underlying thought from where stems all kinds of fears. Doesn’t matter whom we have acquired these from, they are here to remind us of our true loving nature. Want to live a more meaningful life, perhaps its time that we start replacing one by one all our fears with self-love and self-compassion.
To be continued….