Fear is like a ghost. It hides behind different things in that it sometimes becomes challenging to identify that all your problems in life are rooted in fear. In the Bible, Job, a wealthy man, lost all his wealth the same day his ten children were killed in a burning building. It was not a surprise to Job.
Your imagination matters. If you imagine evil, your mindset will attract evil. Job said the things he feared most had happened to him. His imagination became a reality. Job is saying the root cause of his misfortune was his underlining fear. He was afraid to lose everything he had lost. His fear attracted the things he was scared of. His fear had imprisoned him for so long. He could not overcome it until the fear overwhelmed him. He became a slave to his fears and lived in their torment. Now, he has to liberate himself from the fear that has kept him in bondage.
Fear is the root cause of all human suffering. Peel anything back far enough, determine and analyse the natural source and you will agree that fear is at the root of all your problems. It would be best if you looked for a way to annihilate fear despite its ubiquitous presence. Fear is false evidence appearing real. Fear is not real until we make it real. Fear is just energy. It is just energy moving through the body-mind. And the body-mind is also just energy. So, fear is just energy moving through energy.
The first misstep is calling this energy anything but energy. The moment you give it a name or definition, such as fear, anxiety, worry, paranoia, etc., you make the fear real. You make it a ‘thing,’ even though it is not. It immediately creates resistance to it, and that resistance is at least 50% of your discomfort. If you say it’s just energy moving through other energy, you reduce your pain by at least half. You do not want to annihilate energy because energy cannot be annihilated.
Another part of “your” energy is pure Awareness, that part which notices what’s happening but can only notice neutrally, dispassionately. This awareness or witness does not engage, judge, or react to the ‘fear’ energy. It just sees it, that is all. So, if you drop back into the awareness and watch, witness whatever energy flows through whatever other energy, you are free.
Fear of failure, fear of not being reliable, fear of inadequacy, fear of not being good enough, fear of success, fear of letting go of control, fear of being alone, fear of abandonment, fear of discomfort, fear of failing, fear of missing out, fear that you are not OK as you are or your life is not OK as it is, fears that some ideas will not come true. And these all boil down to the same fear: fear that you will not be OK, that you are not good enough. A lack of trust in yourself and the present moment.
On the surface, it could be tough to relate your procrastination, financial difficulties, and relationship problems to fear. The truth is that every named problem has its root in fear, the things you fear most. Fear is everywhere. Everyone is afraid of something. In the end, those who triumph over fear are the ones that rise above their fears. They lord over the fear. They conditioned the fear to serve them rather than serving the fear.
Procrastination is caused because we fear failure. Following your dreams and goals is discomforting; getting where you want takes time and hard work. As the brain tends to fear potential failure, it prefers tasks that are more comfortable and easier to do, like scrolling through social media or checking e-mails, because, for one part, it’s entertainment which makes us feel good. Also, it reduces stress and the fear of missing out on something important.
We cannot eliminate all fear because fear is a part of us. It lives deep in us. There is no way we can “destroy” fear, so we must welcome fear with open arms. It’s part of us and ever will be, so instead of viewing fear as an enemy, stopping yourself from embracing the change, view it as a friend and let fear drive you to extensive heights.
Fear is not the enemy. I wanted to say how you can conquer fear and then remembered I just said that fear is part of who we are. You cannot fight who you are. To realise your potential, you must know more about who you are and how who you are can best bring out the attributes that will enhance your success in your endeavours in life. Fear should not be a battle; it is a gift. I should have used the headline “The Gift of Fear.” I researched and found many books with that title. I thought I had just made a huge discovery, a big title for another book.
Fear is us. Fear is you. Fear is me. We live in an era of constant change, which is scary. We are afraid that we will not be OK in the chaos of change, that we will fail, that we will be judged, and that life will not turn out OK. We are afraid of another pandemic even when we are still trying to survive the current pandemic. Fear is a part of us, so we should not try to “destroy” it. It cannot be destroyed because while we can dissipate one particular fear in one specific moment, we will still have fears. All our lives have fear as part of our nature and characteristics. It cannot be eradicated. Fear is an essential part of life. Fear is part of our composition. It is right in our DNA.
We can begin to create and build upon our self-trust when we accept our fear and embrace it with love and compassion. When we start to see fear in this way when the feeling comes up, we no longer push it away or resist it being there because we think it is terrible. Still, instead, we delight in its presence, knowing we are going through a moment of personal growth. We begin to understand that fear is there to help us grow as people and build self-love and self-trust.
It would be best if you stopped seeing fear as a negative emotion so you can benefit from your fears. Fear arises with the threat of physical, emotional, or psychological harm, real or imagined. While traditionally considered a “negative” emotion, fear is essential in keeping us safe as it mobilises us to cope with potential danger. A little bit of fear is standard. Fear helps you instinctively protect yourself from harm. Your fear might help you to recognise when you are about to do something dangerous, and it could help you to make a safer choice.
Your mind is everything. What you become is what you think.
