Living in Fear

Do you believe that you spend a majority of your time living in fear? If you do, have you tried to figure out where that fear comes from.......the basis......the root, it's true meaning? Sometimes I don't believe we're even aware that fear is the problem. The hesitancy, reluctance, or avoidance of making a decision, we own up to protecting ourselves from something or someone we believe could possibly cause us harm. Or we could have lived around that fear or uncertainty as a child. Overbearing parents who had a tendency to look on the negative side of life.........those bad things that could happen, as opposed to all the good that life has to offer. Or not helping you realize that bad things will, and do happen everyday, and instilling confidence that you will find the wisdom to work through those bad times. It's how they lived their life, so it seems only appropriate they pass that fear onto you, in hopes of protecting you.

Well, no matter where it comes from, I am convinced it's not the way that God intended us to live, even with knowing there are bad people and bad situations in the world that will challenge us each day. Does that mean you're to walk around totally oblivious to those things? No, but it does mean there needs to be a level of acceptance of the human condition, the reality of good and bad, and that no matter what you think, feel, do, or try to prepare for, you cannot go through a lifetime without going through something that is not so pleasant. Of course at the same time it doesn't mean you have to go looking for it either.

Ah.....there it is...plain and simple. "Go looking for it." The fear is the knowing it's there, whatever the pain, hurt, loss, devastation is.........you know it's out there just waiting to swoop you up, churn you into bits, and spit you out. And there you are, left for dead, with no hopes of recovering. So the issue here is not that we can ignore the possibility of things going wrong, because as I said, there is always the possibility. The issue is learning to focus on all the wonderful things that could happen if you let go of the fear.

I can already hear you saying to yourself, "Well, I want to, but I just can't...or sounds like a great idea, but not something I can do." So in other words, you would rather continue to brace yourself for the bad, saying no to many things you would love to say yes to, simply because of fear?

Maybe it would help if you were able to rid your thoughts of the what if's. What if I get involved with this person and they leave me? What if I invest my money into something and it goes south? What if I get sick, and lose my ability to work? What if someone I love gets cancer and dies? What if my husband or wife leaves me? What if I lose my job? What if I get old? What if I need help? As you can see, we could sit here all day long, adding to this list of what if's, but where would it get you? Nowhere.

Now granted all of the things I listed above are in fact things that could happen.......but there is a huge difference in could and will. Just like there's a big difference between fear of something, and concern for something. Fear implies dread, involves anxiety and agitation of an impending threat, whereas concern is a matter of interest or importance to one. Fear is pessimistic and lacks trust, where concern is optimistic, hopeful, and very willingly offers trust. Big difference.

So, with all this being said, there is actually some choice involved here in whether you want to live your life from a place of fear, or live it with trusting and believing for the best. And since we've already covered the issues of "bad things will happen", and living in a place of "what if's", all that's really left is trusting yourself to choose the best answer for you. Maybe you could ask yourself how much it costs you each day to live in fear, and what difference it would make if you were able to walk around and actually enjoy all the good things that life has to offer.

Just remember, whether you believe this or not, those around you are taking note of your fear, even though you think you're keeping it well hidden. There is always someone around who needs to see hope, trust, faith and promise of good things to come...........wouldn't it be awesome if you were able to pass that on as a gift?