What is Fear?

Fear is a World Disease. Fear has spread around the world at the speed of a hurricane. Who is spreading this disease of fear? Humanity is. Why? It is because humanity has basic fears instilled into them when they are children, and now these fears have grown out of all proportion.

Let's look at what we fear. Parents tell their children not to speak to strangers in case they are abducted. So children learn from an early age that the world is not a safe place! 'Do not stray from home, or someone will take you away'.

We fear illness, cancer and aids. We are told 'Don't eat this and don't eat that. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, if you don't you increase your risk of disease and cancer!' This fear about our diets is promoted weekly in the news.

We are sold insurance policies, medical insurance, home insurance, accident insurance, life insurance, all 'just in case something happens.' This reinforces our fears and securities, so we try harder to guard against them. Again, the idea that the world is not a safe place is being reinforced. Fear of lack, fear of not being abundant, fear of not having enough is all promoted and played upon. So we work harder, forfeit family life and mothers go out to work leaving their children to be brought up by strangers. All of this because we fear we do not have enough.

Fear of what other people think about us, is very high on our list of insecurities. We judge other people and other people judge us! We even live our lives doing what other people want us to do rather than being true to ourselves, because we are afraid of being judged by them.

Throughout our history, governments, monarchs and religion have all controlled the people by instilling fear. Why? Fearful people can be swayed, persuaded to do what commonsense tells them not to. Fear has been programmed into our psyches. For lifetime after lifetime we have been steeped in fear. The stress and anxiety of all these fears compromises our health physically and mentally.

The sad fact is that the more we fear, the more we draw our fears to us. We are very powerful beings; we manifest our beliefs, thus creating our reality. The more we fear, the more we draw it into our lives and disaster strikes. Stop for a moment and think about what you really fear. Are they actually your fears or are they someone else's? Are they government based or media based? Are they the Truth? What do you really think? Sharpen your awareness so that you can stand back and take a look at what is going on around you. Look at your life and how you live it. Do you need to be in so much fear?

On an individual level, we can stop this disease. We can clear it, let go of it and not 'buy into it'. If we set the intention that we will not be swayed by fear and that we always wish to see the higher truth behind a matter. If we just use our common sense, then it will be the beginning of curing fear - the world disease.

The Time I Thought I Was Going To Die

“There was a time when we were not: this gives us no concern – why then should it trouble us that a time will come when we shall cease to be?”

A couple of years ago, I was flying home late one night after spending all week in Indore for a business trip. I would fly for these trips to Indore about once every 1-2 months so they were very familiar and routine for me. Pretty much nothing interesting ever happened, which in my opinion is a great thing when it comes to travelling.

On the flight that one fateful night, I notice that the airplane started going downwards very fast… faster than I’ve ever experienced before. My ears almost never pop when I fly, but that night my ears were popping every minute for several minutes in a row.

I looked around, and nobody else seemed to be concerned. (At least nobody outwardly showed concern) But there was this question in my mind, and a feeling in my gut… “Are we going to be okay?” Right after that thought crossed my mind, the airplane started experiencing major turbulence. Enough that even though I don’t get airsick, my stomach was starting to feel very uneasy.

Between the rapid drop and the turbulence, I was having trouble writing my review, and I wasn’t feeling particularly safe in that moment. I thought to myself…

“I wonder if I’m going to die?”

In that instant, I realized that if in fact I was going to die, my preference was not to be typing something on the computer that wouldn’t even reach the people it was written for (i.e. you). So I paused for a moment, looked out the window and saw the beautiful moon and just focused my attention on being calm and present.

It was a delightful feeling, and I felt strangely at peace despite the unusual circumstances of my flight. Well, until…

Another massive turbulent streak brought me back to my mind… “Am I going to die?” I tried to tune into my intuition, but I wasn’t able to hear it. That’s both good and bad because although I wish I were able to hear my intuition all the time—and in this case so I could have an answer to my perilous question – in my experience my intuition usually only tells me when there’s something REALLY big to be concerned about.

And since it wasn’t shouting at me, “Danger Will Robinson! Danger!” I concluded that we all would probably be alright. I turned my attention to the moon again, enjoyed the calm serenity, and within a few moments the pilot announced we would be landing shortly.

I’d like to say I felt relieved, but I didn’t. For me, landing was just another part of this experience called “life,” whether that experience lasts longer, or had ended last night. Either way, I realized I was grateful simply to be alive and experiencing this wondrous mystery.

I’m not entirely sure why I shared all that with you. Perhaps there’s a question in my mind that asks, “How can I connect with others more deeply? How can I inspire, encourage, enlighten, and ultimately empower others?”

And perhaps this blog post was one way in which I can answer those two questions. My very real airplane story isn’t really about me, although I was the main character. I sense it’s really about all of us and how we choose to respond to adversity, challenge, and those things which threaten our ideas about life and the way we live.

Although you may view this post in the perspective of sombreness, as the topic of death often does, we still have a choice how we receive these messages about death.

I am reminded of a quote from a very enjoyable movie called The Last of His Tribe that is based on a true story. The following words were spoken by Ishi, a Native American who helped bring wisdom to the west:

“If you do not sing for your dead, how will they be able to find the trail to their ancestors?”

That’s a very good question, regardless of whether we believe in an afterlife. That question gets to the heart of the matter in a very direct way—when given the choice between sorrow and joy, what would we rather choose?

When my Father died of old age in 2006, I spoke at his eulogy. I spoke of how it was for such a pious man in his 101’s, and with 60 members of children and grand children. I also spoke about the joy he brought to all of our lives with his will power, and how those joyful memories can bring smiles to our faces during that time of painful emotional upheaval. The time taken between his death and the ashes of his body tool only FOUR hours, so smoothly occurred as pre-planned by him.

And when I finished my eulogy, I looked out among the sea of more than 100 people who cared about My father deeply, and what I saw touched me deeply. With tears in their eyes, people were smiling.

In the likeness of Ishi, those in attendance rose beyond their sorrow and found a way to sing… to help Michael find the trail to his ancestors.