Being Afraid...
by Marie T. Russell
"There is
nothing to fear
but fear itself."
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
While humans have always had "reasons" to
be afraid, we are now being bombarded daily with
more reasons to choose fear as our response...
whether the fear comes up when we open our
mailbox, or when we attend a crowded event, when
we see the military as airport security, or when
we board a plane. We see the fear manifest in
the reactions (and overreactions) around us. If
we "forget to be fearful", our media makes sure
we remember, as do our government and
security/military forces.
As spiritual beings, we need to look at
this overwhelmingly rampant presence of fear and
ask ourselves some questions. Many spiritual
teachers have said that there are only two
energies: love and fear. While some of you might
say the two energies are love and hate, if we look at the
roots of hatred, we can see that hatred is based
in fear.
The whole of our existence is
based on choices. This has traditionally been
referred to as free will. Free will is the
ability or power to make our own choices. Free
will includes choice over our thoughts, and
words, as well as our actions. Our greatest
choice is to choose between love and fear. One
cannot exist in the presence of the other -- so
we cannot choose both. It's an either/or
situation. It is like light and darkness -- if
light is present, darkness disappears. If the
light is absent, darkness appears. Thus, the
choice between love and fear is the most basic
and the most important choice we have.
There are
two levels to that choice. The first level is an
overview -- a
"statement of purpose or intent" -- wherein you
declare to the Universe (God/Goddess/All That
Is), as well as to yourself and the world, that
your choice is Love. This is your basic choice
which serves as a foundation for your "philosophy of
life". Which is the path that you declare to be
the one you want to travel?
Now, of course, most of us would say we
choose Love. I don't think anyone would
consciously choose fear over Love. However, another level of choice
is the one at which the ongoing and constant choices we make in our moment to moment
thoughts, words, and actions take place. While the first
choice (the statement of purpose) is of course
important as it is the basis for the daily
choices, if we don't follow up with living our
life by that choice (walk our talk), then the
choice becomes empty, meaningless, and
certainly powerless.
Yet, that is the tough part. It is easy
for us to say "I
choose Love over fear." But the tricky part
comes in the daily interactions, the moment to
moment
reactions, the constant thoughts that wander
through our head, the spontaneous actions and
reactions. It becomes a constant
"challenge" to stay present (in the moment) and
be aware of the choices we are making. It helps
to surround ourselves with persons (and books,
and spiritual teachings) that will assist us in
that "mission" -- choosing Love over fear.
Please understand that I am not advocating
going blindly about and not being observant and
cautious when need be. There is an Arabic saying
that says: "Trust in God, but tie your camel
too." Thus, yes choose Love, yet do not act in
such ways that invite "inappropriate" behavior.
To give an exaggerated example, you wouldn't
leave $100 dollars lying near the sidewalk
expecting it to still be there the next day. One
must act with wisdom.
The whole 9-11 situation (meaning before,
during, and after) is an opportunity
that has arisen for us to grow, and learn, and to
CHOOSE Love over fear.
The first choice presented to us on 9-11
was choosing inner peace over hatred and revenge
(Love over fear). Would we choose anger,
victimization, revenge, retaliation, etc.? Or
would we choose to look from a longer term
spiritual perspective, and remember that if our
overall choice is Love (or Peace on Earth), then
we need to put that in practice even in the most
trying of circumstances.
Our next choice in choosing Love over
Fear, was to remember that for everything there
is a purpose and that out of everything comes
good. We see this so well displayed in Nature.
Rotting fruits and leaves and even manure,
become the fertile ground for new life, new
plants, new fruits. In the same way, we could
choose to see the 9-11 experience as the "rotten
ground" which has allowed new growth. Many
noticed the increase in love, hugs, caring...
less aggressive behavior in traffic, more
patience in supermarket lines... the generosity
of strangers... more of what we
call "humane behavior". Thus we can choose to see 9-11 as an opening, as an opportunity for
growth, as a great (ongoing) moment of choice of
all of us -- Love or fear.
The next choice was specifically for those
of us who believe in some form of eternal life
(whether the Christian concept of heaven, the
Eastern concept of reincarnation, or the
metaphysical concept of the soul simply shedding
the physical body and moving on). For those of
us with a belief in eternal life, we had to
choose between seeing the "death" of all those
people as a "negative experience" or seeing it
as simply their transition to the next stage in
their process of "life".
For those of us that believe
that humans are born with a purpose they have chosen before
birth, our choice was to remember that these
souls chose to be the ones that would bring
about this "opportunity for awakening". Some have remarked that many of
the people flying on those specific flights were
very "special" people -- very caring, giving,
loving. And so they were. They cared so much
that they "sacrificed" their physical body to
help us "wake up" and remember to choose
Love.
The next challenge has been the need (or
opportunity) to choose Love over fear/hatred in
our dealings with other people -- with people
who looked like the "perpetrators of the
crimes", with people of the Islamic faith, with
people we didn't know, with people who "looked
suspicious", with people of other races,
with people who disagreed with our viewpoints. This is
not new. This situation has presented itself
over and over again throughout history. Over and over again, we are
presented with the choice: Love or fear?
Luckily for us, this is not a "one chance
only" exam. The "test" (if you choose to see it
as that) is ongoing. Every minute of every day,
we get to choose again. Will we choose to stay
mired in the past, and project that fear into
the future, or will be choose to be present each
and every moment and choose according to that
moment only, and not based on the past?
The
American justice system is supposedly based on
"innocent till proven guilty" (and yes I say
"supposedly", because the reality is unfortunately
sometimes very different). So, in our dealings
with people, do we choose an "innocent until
proven guilty" stance (Love) or a "guilty
until
proven innocent" position (fear). When faced
with an unknown situation or person, do you
immediately choose to be distant, reserved,
suspicious, or do you choose Love and trust? Are
you willing and able to see
"God" (good) in everyone? Are we willing to let
go of our preconceptions, our grudges, our
memories (all of which are the basis for fear)
and trust the Love in each human being. Are we
willing to look to the future with trust, with
hope, with faith, with Love? Or are we holding
on to fear?
Fear is simply a mistrust of the future based on past
events (either real or imagined). But fear is
always based on an "imaginary future". What we fear does not
exist at this moment. It is simply a
possibility, just as the opposite is a
possibility as well. So which possibility do we
choose? Love or fear? If we get what we expect,
then we are definitely
best served by choosing Love, since that is what
we will be magnetizing to us. If we go out in
the world projecting suspicion and fear, then
our "inner magnet" will attract more of the
same.
So, even when presented daily with
reminders of the fear presence in the world,
even when fears are being reinforced by the
fears (and experiences) of others, we must
remain "aloof" from the energy of fear and
remain grounded in the presence of Love. Remain
in the "now", knowing that this moment is what
you choose. The past is done, and the future
does not exist. So the fears of the future are
fears of things that do not exist. Fear can
be seen as an acronym for False Expectations
Appearing Real. What we fear is simply a figment
of our imagination since it does not exist... it
is a projection into the future which is based
on either past memories, or other people's
fears.
Again, we always have the power of choice.
Which do we choose? I encourage us all to choose
Love. It is the key which will open the door to
the future we desire. It is the password for an
existence of bliss and harmony. It is the
doorway to "heaven on earth". And for those who
are living with an eye on the "afterlife"
whether in the Christian heaven, or through the Eastern
vision of karma, then Love is also the guarantee
to attaining the results we want.
Which will you choose? Now. In
five minutes. In 2 hours. Tomorrow. It is an ongoing
decision. Don't worry when you "slip and fall"
and choose otherwise.
It is simply a reminder that you do indeed have
a choice. Which will you choose, this time? And
next? And next? We might as well choose
Love and be Love, since that's who we really
are.
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