Fear

There are two kinds of fear. The fear of what is right in front of us — like the fear of being run over by a car when we are crossing the road — and the fear of things that may or may not come our way in the future, like a situation that is roaring its ugly head on a different continent…

The first experience of fear is immediate and related to our ‘fight or flight’ reactions. This type of fear is connected to something that is happening right there and then, something we are personally involved in that we can handle. Chances are that the fear — and the associated stress — we feel in that moment, will help us make the best choices in that split second, and take the right action in order to come out at the other end unharmed.

The second experience of fear that is connected to a situation that is out of our control, a situation that is not imminent, a situation that is played up and fed by the media as something that may happen, the fear — and the associated stress — can keep building in our system. In this case, the fear, then, has a tendency to creep into our system slowly while at the same time it fails to show us a way out. The experience of this type of fear is often accompanied with the sense that we cannot do anything about it, and therefore there is no safe place for us to go, nothing we can do on a personal level to escape impending doom.

The immediate fear is in most cases very helpful to our survival in the world we life in. As long as it doesn’t get out of hand and starts ruling our lives, it prompts an evaluation and reaction that prevents us from doing something that could put us into danger. Like just walking out into traffic. It also comes up right when it is needed, and dissipates fairly quickly after that. Granted, in some cases when we have had a ‘close call’ it may take a couple of days for us to overcome that pang of fear. But as long as we celebrate the good outcome, and not keep rehashing the close call in our memories, chances are we are back to being ourselves the next day ~ feeling fine, and hopefully a little wiser as we may have learned from the situation…

The feeling of fear and the associated stress have gone from our system.

The sense of fear of future events isn’t by any means as straightforward. It is related to the thought that says “That could happen to me, to us”. It is a fear that is often fed, not by the threat itself — be it economic, violence, an epidemic or whatever — but rather by what we see, hear or read about it on the news or on the internet. It is presented in a way that we need to insulate ourselves from that situation, and in order to do so we need to take big, sometimes worldwide, actions. We need to guard our borders such that this thing we are afraid of cannot enter.

At the same time, we are generally told that there is nothing we can do about it on a personal level. The natural reaction then, is for the fear to linger in our systems, and for stress about this situation — that is well outside of our realm of influence — to keep building.

The result may well be that because of the extended period in which we experience feelings of fear and stress, our immune systems start weakening. Making us more susceptible to disease. And when we are in a general state of unease, or dis-ease, we may not be quite as aware or vigilant as we would normally be, or perhaps go to the other side of the spectrum and become extremely aware and hypervigilant. We may not sleep as well, and still feel restless…

And bit by bit, over time, we deplete the natural resources our bodies have to deal with things, to be healthy and happy.

So, especially when a fearful — or a stressful — situation lingers, it is important to adopt a state of mind that brings peacefulness into our personal lives…

Perhaps the best way to deal with the fear and stress that are brought on by events that are happening on a worldwide scale, that are outside of our realm of influence, and are not affecting us on a personal level — is to send Light to all those that are involved. Independent if we personally agree or disagree the situation, the actions taken on a personal level as well as on a larger scale, and how things are playing out globally. Send Light! Pray for the best outcome for those involved, for ourselves, and for the world in general.

And then, take a deep breath, and let go of the fear and stress you have been experiencing…

First published in two parts in 2009/2010.