I would have the feeling of gratitude swell inside me as I go about with my morning routine. I realised a sense of gratitude calms the mind in a world that is full of distractions and temptations, helping us to stay anchored to our values.
We live a life that is never lack of instances that may have our fear goes into overdrive. A lot of our fear is associated with the fear of losing our sense of self, and of the unknown.
“What if I cannot meet the expectation?”
“What if this company is not as good as I think it is?”
“What if by doing this I am actually setting myself up for disappointment?”
Don’t get me wrong, fear is not a sign of weakness. In fact, it takes a considerable amount of strength to admitting the presence of fear. A good dose of fear keeps us on our toes; pushes us forward and at the same time, helps us to look inward, a way to self-discovery.
When does fear becomes a problem? When we lack the capacity to understand, problems and conflicts arise.
What we are, the world is. Take relationships for example, the ties we have with our family, friends and lovers.
Our identity is constantly reinforced by the relationships we have with the world. Relationship is like a mirror – how we perceive, interact and behave influence our experience with the people around us. We find joy at one moment, yet stumble in another. As we get to know the people around us a little better, we continue to heighten the sense of our being.
More often than not, it is the unwillingness to understand in a relationship that causes conflict -- when “ego” stands in the way and when “fear” clouded our vision and judgment.
What we call ‘life’ is a relationship with people, ideas, things and ideals. Conflict arises when most of us see in relationship things we would rather see; projecting expectations rather than embracing what is, at the immediate present.
It is important to be aware that the emotions we attach to fear disorient us. It is one of our greatest challenges to finding the root cause of the fear we experience and to channel the fear into a positive direction.
As Jiddu Krishnamurti, a renowned philosophical thinker inquired “are we afraid of a fact or an idea about the fact?”
Stay Alive by Jose Gonzalez
