How does history maintain or dissolve fear? Do we ever really dissolve fears or do we evolve it into new, more complex critters? And how does love play into all this?
Isn’t fear an absolutely amazing attention grabber? Clearly, fear is a motivational expert. (Expert marketers KNOW this!) It just rips to the core of things doesn’t it. Fear is such a part of our life, we enshrine and perpetuate fear in multiple forms. In doing so, is this part of our process to dissolve it? As we learn and understand fear by normalizing it, does it lessen our fears? Or does it simply make us more savvy with how to ignore our fears?
Historically, we seem to LOVE FEAR! Don’t believe me? Look in your checkbook or review your credit card statement. For that matter, observe what generation after generation pay (monthly, semi-annually or annually) for:
- good health
- a stable mind
- a safe home
- a nourished soul
and you’ll uncover historically repeating products and services designed to alleviate just about any fear.
Upon a more close inspection, the relationship between history and fear is a long, robust one. You don’t need to dig to far into the past to uncover the ripe relationship between fear and history. For example, the next time you:
- reach into your pocket or purse to get your keys out you do so because wish to protect what you cherish.
- enter a password or personal identification number (PIN) to gain access to something of value. You enter this number not because computers need it to locate your file, it’s because you wish to protect whatever is behind that PIN. How far back in time have people feared loss of valuable items?
- stay in a comfortable routine while your dreams of something better remain just that dreams. For may, following their dreams most often means giving up most of what they protect to face fears head on.
Keys, passwords and routines enjoy a common goal: protection. Protection implies a need to safeguard something. How many days months, years, lifetimes do we safeguard something before we recognize such protection is based more on fear of loss than love for something. History once again fills many pages with countless stories on the fear of loss. Given the warring nations of today, what battles are fought to protect something? Such wars kill people, daily!
I wonder if our world has experienced a day where NO one killed someone out of fear? Can you name one other item people historically fear more than death? (Public speaking and taxes – right? ) Time to explore how we might dissolve fear from our history pages. You’ll most likely say, That’s impossible.
That’s where love comes in. Love has this magical way of evolving the impossible to the possible. We all know love is more powerful than fear. We KNOW this when we experience unconditional love. And love is most powerful when experienced real time. Historical love requires roots based on some set of historical needs such as “I love you because I know you. We have some shared history I wish to maintain.” Do such roots feed love to enable people to grow and prosper or bind it to historical expectations? Ever hear: “Don’t ever change, I like you just the way you are!” (Should you EVER hear these words, you’re wise to wonder, “If I NEVER change, what would life be like? “)
History is filled with fear of change.
To fear change is to fear growth.
Growth is all well and good, providing it doesn’t happen too fast! Right? Have you ever observed someone dramatically change (for the better) in a short amount of time? If so, did you feel glad for them or did you worry how such dramatic change might be short lived (because it happened so quickly)? Did you fear or expect they’d go back to their usual self (the self you’ve come to know) because their history shows such quick changes always seem to be short lived?
Sure, it seems all to common to recall someone who experienced a rapid decline in some sort of way in short order. And we tend to accept that as part of life with little or no question. When you stop and check your memory files, how many people do you personally know who fell, and just never seemed to get back up. Have you check lately? Did they get back up? If so, how? Are you glad or skeptical? Sadly, it seems the glad part lasts as long as a freshly released soap bubble. As soon as that bubble bursts, words like, I feared that would happen crop up into conversations.
And folks unwittingly SUPPORT this decline with attitudes of, “well, what can you do? “ Worse yet, we attempt to feel better about ourselves when we do something for someone we know they can do for themselves! Instead of helping them get back on their feet, history shows countless societal programs designed to keep one foot broken!
Historically, fear weaves its way into daily life when we sanction skepticism while “holding suspect” more soul nourishing feelings such as joy, happiness and love. Don’t believe this statement? Do you know of someone who always, ALWAYS seems happy. Every time you see them, they’re filled with warmth and compassion no matter what. Do you ever wonder,
Are these people REAL? Don’t they ever have a bad day? I bet they’re totally fake so I’m going to be as mean, rude and nasty as I can to them just so I can PROVE I’m right – that they’re FAKE!
How many history pages document fear in the form of judgment? If you judge someone for any reason without spending the time to truly understand that person’s life, you feed fear. Fear of the unknown. So, now what! Consider taking this challenge:
Become a more loving person, one day at a time. One step at a time.
To love yourself, inside and out, 24x7x365, you’ll find yourself genuinely, consistently happy, compassionate and warm 99.99% of the time. The small little 01% happens when fear fogs your vision.
Reality check: what percentage of time are you genuinely, joyfully living life? During your waking hours, are you happy 50% of the time? 90% ? 11%? Just remember, your answer is also for this moment in time only, it changes with each breath. Take a vow to dissolve fear one bite at a time. Each day, fear dissolves and unconditional love blooms! Could ancient wisdom be true? How many times have you heard this before: “To love our self first and foremost is the most powerful path to loving someone or thing else? “
The more we love ourselves, we allow fear to dissolve, effortlessly and gracefully. The key? Unconditional love.
Yea right! Sure thing Soul! Whatever you say! Are you thinking “Get real here! Who on earth has time for all this touchy-feely nonsense. Everybody has an agenda, right? Everybody wants something so they attach all sorts of strings and expectations to love.”
(Thank you FEAR please take a bow for that global statement!)
Are you everybody? Do you always have a hidden agenda? How many strings do YOU attached to your love? With one simple desire to love yourself unconditionally, you’ll firmly take your first step on a path of dissolving fear, one breath at a time. It’s not a complex process. And have you ever noticed how most folks LOVE simple things? Have you ever noticed the more complex something is, the more fear there is? More working parts to worry about? More strings to watch out and care for.
As we add more complexity, we exponentially increase the unknowns. Historically, we fear what we do not know. Historical records well document how complex societies have completely crumbled. Why did they crumble? As we experience a widening ocean of fear fed by ever-expanding complex streams of information, traditions and social norms (print, TV and web news, continued wars, prejudice, pollution, greed, corruption) one has to wonder, when will we learn from history?
History loves to document fear in the form of disasters of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some disasters may erase our history. Paradoxically, they also inspire us to face our fears as well. History pages also love to share the romance of good will by documenting the outpouring of help post disaster. Those same history pages also document how fear slowly weaves its way back into life in the form of getting back to normal.
Which makes one wonder. Is history truly our teacher? If so, what type of students are we? Care to find out, then you might wish to read, History: Teacher or Student?
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