Fear. I feel it all around me. In the news, on the street, in my own home. It is a hysteria that has been slowly building, probably since 9/11. People are afraid of the stock market, the air they breathe, the food they eat, rising prices, losing homes and jobs, their neighbors. And yet fear and our reaction to it is more destructive than any of these could ever be. When I am in fear, without exception, the decision I make, the road I follow is always the wrong one. Fear colors our vision with a dark and dangerous hue and it renders us incapable of making calm and rational decisions. I am not talking about the fear of starting a new job, or becoming a parent, ; this is a different kind of fear. The fear I speak of is an irrational, all encompassing dread that raises the overall anxiety level of our lives, a permeating fear without purpose or direction and at its most destructive, a fear that turns into anger and hatred.
Many nights I lie in bed and my only prayer is "Take away the fear". I ask for this because I know that if I am not in fear I will think clearly, act decisively, and be more productive. And I always find if I start to move through the fear with actions the fear disappears.
In these days I think it bears remembering: "There is nothing to fear but fear itself"
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