Fear of Openings
The Nature of Fear
Fear is ever-present in the human experience. It is our choice whether to allow it to have power over us, however. When we fall into fear, we lose our power. Fear can be hard to resist, but we must. It gets us nowhere and throws us backwards in our journeys. It has no redeeming value. Our challenge is to tame our fear.
We cannot run away from fear, as much as we may want to. When we run away fear’s power over us grows. We must feel fear, to overcome it. We must get to a place where we can look fear in the eye. As we do, it’s power diminishes greatly. Fear really is an illusion of sorts. In the present moment we can handle whatever comes. Fear does not help us at all, except as a warning that we must act.
Love and fear cannot exist in the same space. What does this mean? We expand the word love in its use here. Love is looking at whatever occurs with our hearts, as well as with our minds. It is our confidence and belief in ourselves. It seeing all sides of a situation, instead of diminishing our vision as is done by fear.
Why Fear Openings?
There really is no good reason to fear Openings, unless we want our lives to stay the same and never grow. Openings can bring us movement, joy, growth, challenge, adventure and opportunity. They bring variety to our lives and changing landscapes. For some, they make life worth living and provide good reasons for our existence.
Openings do bring us face-to-face with the unknown and that is a hard thing for humans to deal with. Looking ahead and seeing nothing unsettles us. We want to know where we are going. But having to know where we are going can lead us to a mundane existence. Sometimes, the unknown is necessary, so that we can find our way ourselves and grow in the process.
Fear can stop us in our tracks, it’s true. But, why let it? There is so much to life and our human existence. Openings are doors to the best of life. Sure, they may ask a lot of us but that is a plus that allows us to grow. We can’t see the future. What seems like an Opening that presents insurmountable challenge, may end up being one of the best things to happen to us.
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Overcoming Fear
Overcoming fear is not a cakewalk. But it is an effort worth making. Fear can debilitate us and rob us of fulfilling lives. Releasing fear brings us freedom. There are ways we can overcome our fear. First, we set our intention and then we commit to it. Then, we begin to see the hold it has had on us is one that we can break. Fear can be managed.
Bill Browder, author of Red Notice, has faced harrowing retaliation from the Russian government for his activities there. In his book, he said this about fear:
“I certainly don’t do this out of bravery, though; I am no braver than anyone else and I feel fear as much as the next person. But what I’ve discovered about fear is that no matter how scared I am, at any particular moment, that feeling doesn’t last. After a time, it subsides. As anyone who lives in a war zone or has a dangerous job will tell you, your body does not have the capacity to feel fear for an extended period. The more incidents you encounter, the more inured you become to them.”
Fear is a choice. We can redirect the power and energy of fear constructively by staying present to it and not allowing it to overcome us. We can create practices to manage our fear. We can “name” it for what it is.
Welcoming Openings
Once we have diminished the power fear holds over us, we can see Openings for what they really are. They beckon us to a good existence. They challenge us and lead us to our best lives. Openings are not to be feared. They are our allies. Let’s treat them as such.
I never really enjoyed my fear, anyway. I’ll give this a try.
photo: Daan Mooij, unsplash.com
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