Confronting Our Fears
Fear, an emotion that tells us something is wrong, that there is some danger or threat, pain or hurt, harm around us. Fear could be an external, palpable threat perception or an internal and ephemeral one, mental or emotional in other words.
Spiritually fear has various effects on our aura, our chakras, our energy as a whole.
Being afraid, or in fear leads us to various insecurities and a sense of unworthiness. We all struggle with the quintessential question, “What if I am not able to make it/to do this job/to compete well/to win/to stand ahead of everyone?” It is quite noteworthy here that fear makes us develop delusions and false imaginary scenarios that lead to more fear and more anxiety. Our fear act upon our weaknesses and if we dwell too much on it, we will be completely swayed away from the reality of life, the reality of the present moment. Fear mostly relies on the baggage sog our past and the worries on our future, both of which have nothing to do with the ‘now’. As Mark Twain once said,” I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”, similarly when we are afraid and fearful, we tend to get into the mode of self-protection and start making strategies to feel safe, which are only but ‘false refuges’ that we seek to feel a sense of relief. And all that while, these scenarios are mostly happening in our mind and not in real time. So, you see how fear can play upon our weak points and then govern our senses.
On the other hand, fear can also be looked upon as a gateway to becoming aware of courage and compassion within us. As Carl Jung rightly describes….”, Where your fear is, there is your task”. Our fear enables us to identify things, thoughts, ideologies, past experiences, people that have fostered this emotion inside us over time. It helps is understand what is actually holding us back so that we can find ways to overcome those mental or emotional blockages. This quote by Carl Jung basically recognises that our fear points in exactly the direction where we need to go next to evolve and expand our lives. Fear draws our attention to the parts where we are inadequate, deficit or feel underdeveloped. The things, tasks or people we fear the most act as guideposts for us to evolve and reach our full potential.
Avoiding our fears or supressing them leads to chaos within. We might run away from fear by keeping ourselves busy, trying to accomplish a lot, or judging other critically to boost our ego. Or perhaps we may also try and numb our fears by taking to addictions of food, drugs, alcohol etc. Running away from our fears only leads us to more disconnection from the self, more unworthiness, more delusions, and takes us further away from healing and peace. Confronting our fears on the other hand, is where our growth lies.
There are ways in which we can confront our fears:
- By developing emotional strength
- By stepping out of our comfort zones
- By building our confidence
- By becoming resilient and tolerant
- By opening up to new possibilities
- By worrying and stressing less about the past and future
- By embracing freedom from our own limiting mindsets
- By discovering our strengths, regaining our courage
- By fostering compassion and love
- By gathering knowledge, becoming more aware
- By seeking guidance from experts, healers, spiritual guides, books or any such enlightening experiences
- And by focusing on progress and not perfection.
Fear can be utilised to propel us towards self-improvement, provided we don’t feel overwhelmed by it. If we consider it just as an emotion and not let it govern or run our lives, there is a lot that we can learn from our fears, ultimately leading us to our own empowerment, mental as well as emotional liberation and spiritual growth.
Author: Aumtara
