You Choose to Buy Into the Fear or Not
When you recognize this, you gain more control and empower yourself.
Fear is the ultimate drug. It’s more pervasive than anything illicit or prescription you can acquire. It’s everywhere you turn, and often so innocuous that it’s right in front of you but hidden in plain sight.
Sometimes it’s made cutesy with phraseology like FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). It’s often used to sell you anything and everything from beer to cars to services. Buy this, that, or the other thing, or your worst fears of suffering, being left out, and looking bad will come to pass. Most of the politics in the world play off fear to get so-called leaders elected.
Unchecked, you will live your life in fear because this is a fear-based society. Social media, billboards, TV, radio, everywhere you turn your fears are being played.
Unchecked, fear will direct you subconsciously to do things that might be utterly against your best interests. Going back to politics, look how certain people convince you they will save you from the artificial fear (usually of “the other”) that’s ruining your life, while in truth they’re robbing you blind and taking away your freedoms.
This is how it will continue to be, and there’s little you or I can do to change the big picture, and the pervasiveness of this fear-based society. However, when you accept this for what it is, you can individually reject it. You choose to buy into the fear or not.
It starts with recognition and acknowledgment of fear
Because fear is a frequent, ongoing undercurrent, it’s disguised and hidden in many ways. Convincing you to buy that thing you don’t genuinely need is done by playing off your fears. Buy this or you will be considered lesser, worthless, and/or undesirable. If you buy this, you’ll not be alone and will get laid much more frequently. Don’t buy this and suffer.
It’s highly insidious. It’s also quite clever. That’s why it goes on and on unrecognized for what it is.
You can’t change the fear-base of this society from the big picture. It’s far too big. You can, however, change if you buy into it or not.
The first step in that process is to recognize this fear-based society. Recognize all the ways that fear is fed to you, virtually intravenously. You start by recognizing that fear is everywhere, and almost entirely based in intangibles (and seldom a true danger to your life or at all).
Then you need to acknowledge this. Why? Because you could recognize and ignore it. However, ignoring it doesn’t do jack shit about it. Fear won’t stop being there, ever-present, just because you ignore it. That’s not how it works. You must acknowledge it.
Recognize the fear. Acknowledge it. Now you have the power to do something about it. What can you do? Counter it.
You choose to buy into the fear or not
Allowing the pervasive fear in society on its many, many levels to dominate you is a choice. Because it’s so vast, it overwhelms with little to no effort. That is until you recognize and acknowledge it.
After recognition and acknowledgment, you’re empowered to choose to resist the fear. You can’t ignore it, you can’t pretend it’s not there. What you can do is look at how it’s being employed and counter it.
When fear is selling you something, look at what it is. Do you need it? Will it have any genuine impact on your thoughts and feelings? Will missing out on that thing truly lessen you?
In this way, you become a mindful consumer. What’s the difference? You are choosing what you buy or not.
For example, let’s say you desire a new car. Based on advertising alone, you need to buy a luxury car like an Audi or Lexus to achieve ultimate status and satisfaction. However, do you? A car is often a status symbol, but it’s nothing more than (falsely) symbolic.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t buy what you desire if and when you can. I’ve driven plenty of cars that were unexciting, not fun in any way to drive, and that were massively uncomfortable in one way or another. I recognize my privilege here, FYI. Not everyone can or even should buy new. Yet that’s part of the point. Fear of judgment leads people into deep debt and to make choices counter to their health, wellness, and wellbeing. Ergo, don’t buy it without giving it thought first. Think it through before you spend $60k on that car rather than $30k on that other car.
Applied mindfulness is the key to buying into the fear or not.
Applied mindfulness
In short, applied mindfulness is active conscious awareness. By being consciously aware, at this moment, of what you’re thinking, what and how you’re feeling, your intentions, and your approach, you consciously choose your actions.
Life’s always in motion, save when resting (and even then the brain tends to be highly active). Consciously or subconsciously, you’re thinking, feeling, and acting. When you do this subconsciously, rote, routine, and habit drive your life. Fear often drives you when you live subconsciously rather than consciously.
Mindfulness is active control of this. That empowers you. Empowerment puts you in the driver’s seat (sorry for the ongoing car analogies today). This is all about control.
The fear-base of society is intent on cowing you. It’s meant to keep you and me tightly controlled. Buying, spending, and giving your heart, mind, and soul as mindlessly into the machine as possible. It works because it’s such an invasive, constant undercurrent.
It stops working via mindfulness. When you’re empowered you’re actively, consciously choosing. In that way, you can choose not to buy into the fear.
Your example can help others to do the same. Those around you that you care about, seeing you less stressed, complaining less, and less afraid of the world around you inspires the same. In that way, you contribute to changing this fear-based society into one more reason-based.
You are more powerful than you recognize, and that’s by design. When you recognize and acknowledge the fear you’re being sold, you can actively choose to stop buying it. In that way, you use your superpowers to live less fearfully, more contentedly, and maybe even more joyfully.
Do you recognize how much fear is sold to you at every turn?
This is the six-hundred and forty-sixth (646) exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – applying mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out Amazon for my published fiction and nonfiction works.
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