Fear- Face Everything And Then Respond
July 10th, 2007FACE EVERYTHING AND THEN RESPOND. I heard this statement regarding fear the other day and it rang true of what we should consider adopting instead of keeping the fear in our body and mind and then projecting it out to the future. We all know, the future can change in a heartbeat. If we look deeply, fear is really a waste of valuable energy. Fear takes away our bliss and keeps us hostage in the illusion of bondage.
This statement remined me of a significant time of transformation, when I was on retreat in the Santa Cruz mountains with a spiritual church I attended many years ago. My boyfriend and I were staying in one of the many cabins surrounding a beautiful forest and the retreat center. One eve we were sitting outside on the cabin deck, enjoying the stary night as we facred the dark forest. All of a sudden, there was a sound of crackling footsteps coming from the dark forest. It began getting louder and louder, inching closer to our cabin. My imagination went wild! I went so far in my imagination that I felt it could be a drifter coming to harm us. We were the only inhabinants in the entire surrounding cabins this fateful evening, which brought the fear up another notch. I almost began hyperventlating. My boyfriend looked at me as if I was nuts. He didn’t show the same fear but followd me into the cabin and locked the door. He hunted and found a fashlight to scan the forest terran. At this point, I wanted to run and hide. I headed for a dark corner in the cabin, while my significant other rushed to find who was responsible for that horrifying sound approaching our cabin. He yelled my name to come and look to what he found. It was a large raccoon making it’s way out of the forest. I couldn’t believe that I went into this panic mode. I kept saying to my boyfriend, “This is a perfect example of how I handle fear in my life. I think the worst and it almost paralizes me.” This was the beginning of the end of how I handle fear. Face everything and then respond!