Fear on My Path – Walk Right Into it or Run Away?
You choose if fear controls you or you control it.
I am about to do something slightly terrifying.
What is it? I’m going to take a step into the unknown. I’m doing something that is financially risky – but has the potential to be incredible.
This is really scary. It’s bringing up a lot of my deep-seated fears, which can be dangerous when I allow them to control me.
Like every other thought and feeling – fear is under my control. It’s my decision if I allow it to rule me or not.
Fear is not just a feeling – it’s much broader than that. It’s an inexplicable sensation that – despite being intangible – feels tangible. I think that’s because it isn’t just in heart, head, or spirit – it’s in all three at the same time.
What that means is that your mind, body, and spirit all encounter and cope with fear – or not. That’s how it goes beyond just a thought and feeling – and into a deeper attitude and approach to life, the Universe, and everything.
Tangible fear is easy to understand and work with. A direct threat to your life – an oncoming car, rushing wild animal, active shooter – is an obvious threat. I don’t know about you, but just reading those three different threats is disconcerting.
Intangible fear is hard to understand and work with. Its origin is frequently mysterious, its impact variable, and unlike direct threats to your health and wellbeing, the result of an intangible fear realized is uncertain and unknown.
As we walk our paths in life – we will encounter fear. The question is – walk into it or run away?
Do you know what you’re afraid of?
I am loath to share why the thing I am about to do is terrifying me. Why? Because it’s one of those things I recently wrote about maintaining my mindset for. Talking about it, writing about it, and putting it out there empowers this fear. I would rather not give it that power.
Worrying about lack, scarcity, and insufficiency can turn into conscious creation. And I have no desire to manifest what I am afraid of. It’s another way I set myself up for self-sabotage.
Truth be told, this is not something that will end my life. More than anything, what I am fearing here is not the thing itself – but the potential for suffering should the worst happen.
In the very wise words of Paulo Coelho from The Alchemist,
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.”
What he leaves out is this isn’t a message for the heart alone. The mind and spirit need to acknowledge it, too.
I know the suffering I am afraid of here. And I also know that so long as I empower it – and run away from it – I’ll suffer. Just thinking about suffering is a cause of suffering that we often don’t recognize for what it is.
Thus, aware and mindful, I am going to walk right into my fear and take the leap.
As naturalist John Burrows said (also known as a Zen saying),
“Leap and the net will appear.”
When you know what you’re afraid of – you become empowered to walk into it or run away from it.
Confronting fear
I majorly dislike being afraid. Because it impacts heart, mind, and soul, it’s exceptionally distressing. If it were just a thought or feeling, I believe it would be much easier to cope with. But since fear is much more – it can be seriously infuriating.
What’s more – we live in a fear-based society. Everywhere you go – online, in-person, or wherever – it engulfs you. Some is nuanced and not obvious (advertising), while some is often literally shouting at you (politics). Fear dominates the narrative and the collective consciousness as such.
Because of this – recognizing and acknowledging fear is a challenge. Since it’s largely intangible, often it appears as something else. Messages of lack, scarcity, missing out, insufficiency, not measuring up, and the like don’t look like messages of fear – but that’s what they play on.
Most intangible fears come down to fear of suffering. If X, Y, or Z comes to pass, you’ll suffer. And the idea of suffering is – at its root – fear.
To confront any fear, we need to recognize it. When we do – we can confront it.
Nearly all intangible fears – the vast majority of what we’re afraid of – won’t result in anything permanent like death and disfigurement. A broken heart sucks a lot – but you can and will survive it, no matter how awful it is.
I recognize that seems a bit cold and calculating. Maybe it is. But because of how fear soaks into our core and impacts head, heart, and soul – reason and logic are the best means to combat it.
These are the ultimate tools to combat fear.
Reason and logic overcome fear
One of the key factors of intangible fear is that it tends to be illogical, sometimes going so far as to be irrational.
When you choose to be mindful and work with conscious reality creation, you will inadvertently encounter fear on any chosen path. This will happen no matter what plans you make. It’s a natural part of everyone’s life experience.
Thus, you face a choice. Walk into fear or run away from it?
We all know how to run away. That’s instinctual. But when the fear is intangible – and not right there before you, threatening your life – you have far more options.
One of the best ideas I’ve encountered for this comes from Frank Herbert’s Dune. I present, the Litany Against Fear:
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
This litany is reasonable and logical – which is why it’s a perfect tool to overcome what we’re afraid of.
Tangible fear manifests very differently from the intangible. The tangible is a threat to your life and wellbeing. The intangible tends to be about being afraid of the suffering you might experience.
You choose if fear controls you or you control it. I am facing mine in this present situation by walking into it and taking control over it.
The more we face our fears, the easier they become to overcome. This is not easy. But I believe it’s utterly worthwhile.
Do you apply logic and reason in the face of your intangible fears?
This is the five-hundred and fourteenth exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – using 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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