Chapter 5.12 FEAR!!

Fear

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) 32nd President, United States

From his First Inaugural Address.

Although I cannot say that all Negativity is rooted in fear, Negativity certainly feeds The Fear.  Fear is just one of the negative emotions that needs to be confronted, but it may be the biggest and the baddest (sic).

Fear … I’m kind of afraid to even talk about it …. Fear is the major negative force, the devil itself. Fear has many costumes:

the fear of harm,
the fear of loss, the fear of poverty,
the fear of disease, the fear of making decisions,
the fear of being wrong, the fear of being rejected,
the fear of being a fool, the fear of how we look,
the fear of what others think,
the fear of werewolves in the night,
the fear of failure,
the fear of success,
the fear of death,
the fear of the Devil,
the fear of Fear.

Fear is an emotion that projects into the future.  We are not afraid of the past … it’s gone.  Even if we did something in the past that we fear will bite us later, the Fear projects to the future.  Surprisingly, we may not even have Fear in the present.  The present is This Moment (That Moment is already past once written.)  We don’t Fear what is happening to us This Moment, but what is going to happen the Next Moment.  My thinking is that even if someone is being tortured, the worry is what’s going to happen in the Next Moment.

I guess that this premise could be up for argument.  The Fear of pain would probably transfer to the Fear of death (or perhaps the Fear of continuing to live, depending on how dismal the circumstance.)  Fear in the present may exist, but it doesn’t carry the legs of Fear in the future.  Fear in the future changes our lives.  If we Fear future occurrences, then we are projecting a negative outcome.  It is okay to be aware of potential outcomes, to strategize against them, but you just can’t believe the bad ones are going to happen.

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

Yoda     Star Wars movies

I’m fairly certain that the major antagonist in many of our lives is Fear.  Those that fear the devil are falling into Fear’s trap.  See, the devil is Fear (the devil is d’ evil.)  To ‘Fear the devil’ is to give it energy, the negative energy of Fear.  The use of Fear to accomplish anything … whether it be in politics, in religion, in the workplace, in high school football, in relationships of any kind … is using  d’evil as your accomplice.

You’ve seen the T-shirts: NO FEAR!   I remember when my daughter was in the on-deck circle at her high school semifinal state sectional fast-pitch softball game.  Her team was down by one run and there were two outs.  As my daughter warmed up, she was thinking that if the girl that was up to bat got on base, she would be in the position of maybe making the last out, the out that would snuff their championship hopes.  She was almost hoping that the girl batting would make the last out, so that the burden wouldn’t fall on her.

Then she was touched with a realization.  She had played her whole career to be in this spot, to be up to bat in this clutch situation.  All of a sudden, she wanted to be up to bat.  She wanted her chance.  She actually wanted the girl to get on base … and the girl did.

My daughter approached the batter’s box with confidence; she was focused on her task.  She wasn’t thinking about what-if.  Just pitch the ball.  She slapped it over the third-baseman’s head for a hit.

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)    Attorney General USA

This example of my daughter’s experience is not a rarity.  Athletes in every sport are making the plays every game.  They are staying in the moment.  They are not thinking about what they have done in the past, nor of what the results will be if they fail … the embarrassment, the laughter, the other players choking their necks in jest. Nor are they thinking of what it will be like if they succeed … the applause, being carried off by their teammates, the envy of others.  Thinking of what might be just doesn’t work.

“Courage is the resistance to fear, the mastering of fear

not the absence of fear.”

Mark Twain (1835-1910)    American Humorist/Writer

In fact, I would guess that most of the successful people in business, sport, war, the arts, actually any activity, have made their way by not being afraid of pursuing their goals, taking the chances, taking certain risks. That is, of course, until they begin to fear losing what they have gained.

Fortune, fame, friends … all can be lost to Greed or Fear.  It seems that Greed and Fear have ruled most of world over the last several centuries.   Unfortunately, Greed and Fear are a way of life for many, many people.

Having confidence in your abilities to  adapt and to achieve  are great weapons in the battle with Fear. Many of the “new spirituality” books talk of being a warrior.  I think I’m beginning to understand it better.  We must all be warriors … we must all fight Fear and Negativity.  Participating in Negativity, whether you are being negative, expecting negative, or talking negative … all these negative actions fuel the Fear.

Generosity and Love are around us, they just don’t rule many countries or business conglomerates these days.  “Do unto to others before they do it to you” has truly become more popular than the original version of the Golden Rule.  Indeed, an argument can be made that if you don’t play by the same rules as your enemy, that you’ll be run over … you’ll be too weak, too easy to conquer, too peaceful (!!).

“Truth cannot afford to be tolerant where it faces positive evil.”

Rabindranath Tagore, (1861-1941)      Indian Poet and Playwright

The forces of positivity must also be strong, and, curiously, they must be prepared to conquer, or at least reduce, the enemy forces that promote Negativity. I know, it would be better if we could find a way to change people act and think on a higher plane, a plane of knowledge, understanding, and tolerance.  But that can only come to individuals from within.  We still reside on earth, and we can’t expect that a sudden enlightenment is going to change the world. Negativity won’t go down without a long fight. We need to change people one at a time.

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

Helen Keller (1880-1968)    American Author/Activist

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