Fear Not

I believe in life’s oppositions – good vs. bad, right vs. wrong, and light vs. darkness.  I am a black and white kind of person with not too much gray area.  It’s how I like to operate – do it big, or not at all – you can’t get a ‘little bit pregnant” as they say.  There is another set of opposites I want to explore in my life – LOVE vs. FEAR.   The interesting thing about the fear/love opposition is they are only two states of being.   They cannot exist together at the same time in us, so at any given time we are either in love or we are in fear.

I saw  the above pictured “fear not” bracelet and it just spoke to me.  This got me wondering – do I operate more from  ‘fear” than I do from the “love”?  I visited one of my favorite blogs  “TIny Buddha”  to review a list of love versus fear virtues.  In reading through this list,  I thought of things in my life where I am fearful.  It seems like fear has encroached on my psyche as I have gotten older and I want to make a conscious effort to not operate from this dynamic.  I made a list of things I fear and how love provides for me the only state of being to operate from.

AGING
Classic, classic fear and one that I have given a great deal of thought to.  The key to nailing this one is acceptance.  To fear what is inevitable keeps you stuck and leaves you without hope.   If you don’t accept and live in spite of it, you stay in an angry place where no real growth is possible.  Imagine if we all raged against getting old and tried to perpetuate youth – there is no winning that game.
Love surrenders, fear binds

WHAT IF I NEVER FIND OUT WHAT I WANT TO DO PROFESSIONALLY?
So many of us have jobs that we enjoy but are not really what we want to be doing.  It just might happen that we stay where we are and never find the job we think we would love.  That’s okay.  Fearing what you are currently doing because it might not be what you should be doing is taking away from your present.  Don’t put your passion on a pedestal.  Your ideal job might not be “out there” somewhere, just waiting for you to come along and find it.  You can grow your passion for your job right under your feet.  Ignite the passion where you are instead of thinking life will be great only if you find that perfect job.
Love inspires, fear worries

FEAR OF FOLLOWING  “MY  BLISS”
As Joseph Campbell so eloquently stated in The Power of Myth…..  Follow your bliss. Find where it is, and don’t be afraid to follow it.  The mere act of fearing something that could turn out to be your life’s greatest joy is to let yourself down entirely.  Stop fearing and begin doing!
Love dreams, fear schemes

FEAR OF CONFRONTATION
Are you guilty of holding mental conflicts and confrontations?  Do you lay awake at night having conversations with people you are angry with?  All that anger keeps you in a fearful place.  Operate from love by confronting your fear – break the prison within which you hold yourself because of your fear.  Stand up for yourself  and confront your issues with other people.  Live the life you want with your friends, family and co-workers – not a life that is in your head.
Love is strong, fear is weak

FEAR OF CHANGE
Fear of change is what stops me from making positive changes in my life, I believe.  The “grass is always greener” rationalization has stopped me more than once from moving forward – the fear of leaving where I currently am.
Love chooses, fear avoids

FEAR OF MAKING THE WRONG DECISION
Avoiding making a decision keeps you stuck, feeling paralyzed, boxed in, and afraid to make any type of move. In an attempt to try to remain in some sort of control, you don’t do anything.  Being stuck sucks.  Taking action makes you feel more courageous, no matter the outcome of your decision
Love creates, fear negates

These are just snippets of things that I fear and in analyzing them, I realize that coming from a place of love is always the way to go.  It allows me to know that nothing and no one can harm me, and there is nothing to be upset about.  Coming from a place of love is coming from a safe place – a fearless place.

I ended up going online and purchasing  a “Fear Not” bracelet.   I wear it all the time.  It helps to keep me mindful of where I need to operate – from a place of love.

After all – to quote the Beatles – … Love is all you need.