The fear factor
My perception of fear is it is an energy that strangulates. It doesn’t allow you to move forward because your perception of the world is painted or nuanced by this energy. More often than not, the picture this fear paints is totally false. It’s like the intent of this energy is to keep you small, to stop you from venturing forward. To keep you in a box. Fear is crippling.
I have one temporary household help. She has been with me for over four months and every time I look into her eyes I see this fear. As a result of which she is always making mistakes. She hasn’t learned anything. She hears the wrong thing. While she is a good person, to her the world is threatening. Constantly at the back of her mind is this whispering that she is small, she is worth nothing. That’s what fear does — it keeps you small.
I know of another teenager applying for college. He has dreams and ambitions but his fears strangulate him and cause him to withdraw. Instead of seeing possibilities, he sees mountains he thinks he will never be able to climb, rivers he will never be able to cross, so why bother?
Whenever I give talks during graduation ceremonies, a consistent theme I harp on is never think you are small! If you think small, you will dream small, you will project small, your life flow will proceed in cautious trickles instead of the smooth and graceful flow that comes from hope and confidence and trust in the Divine.
I have a technique that has worked for me in terms of addressing fears. First of all see it. With most people they are not even aware that fears are adversely affecting their lives. They accept as truth the reality that is painted for them by their fears. The first step is awareness, an inner voice that says: “I know you are there and I know what you are doing to me.” Then stare the fear right in the face and say, “I don’t want any part of you. I am not going to let you run my life.” Then do the action that is contrary to the fear. It will lessen its hold on you. In the same way, the more you give in to it the greater will be its hold on you. Sometimes for this process to take place, one may need help. Someone intuitive who can you give you honest feedback. Help you see yourself. I work with someone on Skype twice a week and it does wonders for me.
The “threshold” is when you can get to the stage where you can actually See it. Feel what it’s doing to you.
Disassociate and realize you are not your fears! You are something else much more sublime. You are this spirit with a great future ahead. No matter how scarred, or how wounded, you are this spirit waiting to bloom on whom the Divine wants to shower unlimited blessings if you can just be open enough to receive it. Everyone’s future is unbelievably bright if we can just get our fears out of the way.
Many times our fears are the results of situations either in this life or past lives, where some trauma has caused an instinctive recoil in our consciousness. Or has made an indelible imprint because the situation was so intense. Sometimes, it is good to go back and discharge the situation, let go of the energetic clutches this has on you. Remember the energy of the situation and while in that space allow the light of wisdom or clarity to land. See/feel the situation differently.
I have a friend who is deathly afraid of water. It’s irrational. The moment her feet don’t touch ground, her heart starts beating rapidly. She realized one day that in a previous lifetime she died drowning. Her challenge this lifetime is to get over this fear.
Life is beautiful. It absolutely depends on the way you see it. It’s not the situation. It’s how we see it. The more attuned we are to the Divine, the more positive our outlook becomes. Light is always more powerful than darkness. If we can learn to rest our consciousness on light, rather than on our fears, our life can take on frontiers that are exciting and wonderful.
Right after writing this article I went to see the movie Happy Feet 2. I totally loved the movie. I immediately fell in love with Eric. He is the cutest penguin ever. I wanted to hug him close and pinch his cheeks! Every time he talked my heart would tickle. In one scene he is staring at this cliff.. and he is talking to his father... and He says he wants to fly. His father tells him: “You are just a penguin, penguins don’t fly.” He thinks deeply and looks at his father...He is indomitable, naively refusing to be held back and in sweet determination and pure innocence he takes on life always believing in the seemingly impossible. I love this spirit. Maybe that’s why one of my all-time favorite songs is I Believe I Can Fly with the lyrics going, “I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky, I believe I can soar, see me running through that open door...”
Faith brings us through fear. I have started all my projects without the money to make it happen — just with a dream, a vision of what can be. And the results are consistently magical. Faith in the dream. It really does happen.
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Break through the prison of your fears. If you need help, you can call Michele at 0927-6658071. Her e-mail is michelegoeldi@yahoo.com. I can be reached at regina_lopez@abs-cbn.com.
