Understanding
Fear
“What
is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or
any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it,
learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn
about fear, not how to escape from it.”
Jiddu
Krishnamutti
If
you've ever had a panic attack, you know what it means to be
paralyzed by fear. They are among the most uncomfortable sensations
imaginable, and for many people, enough to keep them from going
places, and trying new things, or even having a conversation with
someone new. Fear has a function in our myriad emotions—a warning
signal, designed to put us on heightened alert. But living from a
place of fear is both dangerous and exhausting, and most of the time,
unnecessary.
Living
from a position of fear is like building a wall around oneself that
shuts out all life. Fear can paralyze us in a multitude of ways.
Procrastination is one of its forms—masking fear of failure, or
more deeply, fear of success. We prevaricate on taking a position or
accomplishing what we might, because we are afraid of where either
success or failure may lead.
Our
armed society is indication of the role fear plays in our lives. If
you need an automatic weapon with a thirty-round clip to feel safe,
the enemy is not without, but within. When we respond to attacks by
reloading and rearming, we create a culture of fear in which tempers
are hair-trigger and any provocation can lead to disaster.
What
is needed, as Krishnamurti says, is to learn about our fear, not to
run from it, and certainly, I would add, not to arm against it.
Understanding fear, even panic attacks, helps to diminish them.
Taking that step into the unknown in spite of fear is what brings
courage. Putting oneself out, even if the response is rejection,
brings understanding that we need not be paralyzed by fear of
failure. We will survive it and try again. We can, by facing fear,
take the wall down one brick at a time.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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