It is very natural to be afraid sometimes. Fear is part of our human nature. And sometimes, the fear we feel is not even our own. With everything happening in the world right now, the air is permeated with fear. You might pick up the collective energy of fear that blows around the planet like a strong wind. This might present itself as an uncomfortable feeling you don’t understand or can’t trace back to anything specific. Or it may appear as something very personal and concrete, urging you to act straight away.
This fear, as we call it, is sometimes perceived as our enemy. We do not want it to be part of us. Our mind immediately goes into survival mode and says: ‘I don’t want to feel this, it needs to go away and I’m going to take action now’. Taking action (or inaction) right away can seem like the best or easiest way to deal with it.
Let’s take the current world situation as an example. There is a surging energy crisis, and it is more than normal, even human, that some of us feel afraid about our financial situation, our businesses and our future. I hear stories about people stocking up on gasoline and businesses cancelling investments and postponing events. This can be a sensible thing to do, but the question we need to ask ourselves is: which part in us drove that decision?
Was it the person who was afraid, or was it the person who just knew this was the right and sensible thing to do?
Often, when we make a decision based on fear, it keeps us imprisoned and small, and it makes us do things we deep down do not like or feel comfortable about – like stocking up on gasoline or cancelling an investment that would mark the next step in growing our business.
Let us look at another way to deal with this fear: by seeing it as our companion. What if we welcomed this feeling inside us, just as we would welcome a joyful feeling? Fear has as much right to express itself and that’s all it is asking for. This is the path of non-attachment. Allowing fears to surface and simply be there. Fear can be a great teacher. It gives us access to parts within us that have not yet been brought into full consciousness.
Observe the feeling as it moves around in your body without labelling it, without attaching it to a situation or memory. In doing so, you immediately create distance between you and the part of you that is afraid. Now closely look at it and see what it has to tell you. To what story is it attached? When is it triggered? In which part of the body do you feel it? What does it bring you? What would happen if you let it go? The more you practice this, the easier it becomes to detach yourself from the feeling. The fear might still be there, but it no longer dominates your decision-making.
When a child is afraid to sleep in the dark, we tell him or her there is nothing to be afraid of. We ask if they would like to sleep with the door open, so light can enter the bedroom. This often calms the child who soon falls asleep and wakes up the next day as if nothing bad has happened. Treat your inner fear as if it were your own child. The next time fear arises, make sure you keep your inner door wide open. This way, the light of the observer can shine through, reassuring the fearful child in you that all is well. And who knows, if more people approached fear this way, we might even see a calming effect on the turbulent political and economic climate as well.