A Persistent Irrational Fear

 

A few years ago, one of my psychologist friends told me about the difference between a simple fear and a phobia. Fear is an emotional reaction to present or future challenges. While the dictionary defines a Phobia as a persistent and irrational fear. My point of view back then and even now is that every fear, even those which we are not consciously aware of, are irrational. And the more persistent, the more irrational they become.

 

When a person acknowledges his true potential, the wonder of being alive and the creative power in him or herself, no fear can be rational. The truth is that we are all afraid sometimes, only some people have decided to surrender to their fears.

 

Through time we have discovered that fear can immobilize us. One of the physiological basic reactions of the human body is to remain still, while facing a dangerous situation. It was a perfectly normal and natural reaction for a person living in 16,000 BC who detected the presence of a mountain lion. Of course we wouldn’t want to make a single movement until the lion is gone.  If we survived, then we learnt the lesson. Either we wouldn’t take that path again, or we would return with a hunting party. We need to keep on going. It would be silly to just stay in our comfy and cosy cave, thinking daily of all the ways that lion could have hurt us. Which is what we do these days we sit and think..

 

The thing here is that nowadays, this fear is not even real, it is a perceived one. We believe that the rest of the world will hurt us again, and so we stop. We think we will not get that job we can apply for, because we are afraid of being rejected. So we don't apply. We are afraid of being abandoned and we channel that fear in the form of jealousy. Another way of stopping. So our partner gives up and ends up effectively abandoning us.

 

It is my opinion that every fear is irrational. If humankind is able to have such bright moments to create great works of art, scientifical and technological breakthroughs, why should we be afraid of the world around us? Once we have realised that we are capable of achieving anything we can imagine, our surrounding threats become insignificant compared to the great power within us.

 

This simple fact of being capable of creating, should be enough to stop us from being afraid. It is an accepted fact, even by the most sceptic scientists, that the human mind is constantly creating its own reality. This is the first and greatest tool we have to erase our fears. We create what we live. We can choose to create fearful situations or we can create a whole satisfying life for ourselves. It is only a question of believing that we can do it. That is how powerful our True Self is.

 

The second tool which we have at our disposal is our Consciousness. Our brains have adapted in such ways that we are able to tell that the person in front of us in a mirror is not another human being, but ourselves. This consciousness of our own presence lets us know that we are no simple spectators or actors in the Universal stage. We are the scriptwriters, we decide what to do with our bodies, our thoughts and our emotions.

 

Not everyone has the third important tool to stop being afraid. This tool consists on having Transcendent Principles. The guiding principles of our lives are more important and more far-reaching than the fear with which we are stuck. These principles can be, according to your priorities, being happy, self improvement, and being of service to others. They are not physical achievements and they are not dependant on other people. To have a healthy love relationship is not a transcendent principle, but having self-respect is. It all has to depend on ourselves and on our inner power. To have a transcendent principle is to set up a goal for ourselves which will be placed beyond any fear of day to day things..

 

What is so bad that you can’t solve? What is wrong with life that you can't establish a change for the better? What pains or hurts can be so intense that  you can't turn them into lessons for yourself and for your loved ones? Yes, we all suffer and hurt at some point, but suffering and hurt are there to be useful to us, to learn and then to overcome them and never think back on them again.

 

An old inscription in the ancient ruins of Tajin in Mexico, has one of the life rules of the Mesoamerican masters: “We did not come to this world to hide. We are here to find ourselves”.

 

All that you are, everything you have and everything that happens to you, is an opportunity for  personal growth. It only depends on the angle from which you will face it. And remember: It is not enough to face it; you have to enjoy it.

 

 

- Juan Sandoval is a Mexican temachitani master. He lives in South Africa with his wife Joanne, from where they offer spiritual counselling and guidance through their art, articles and lectures. . www.skillsa.com