Accepting Fear

You may not even be aware how fearful you are until you try to let it go, or you try to let it be and just observe it. Nobody wants to admit they're afraid. I should clarify that adults don't want to admit it. There are certain times when we grant ourselves permission to be scared, like a good scarey movie. Since we expect it and allow it, then we aren't trying to escape or confront that feeling.

We learned in school that we should be brave. And our friends and other kids teased us if we showed fear. So we came into adulthood with that philosophy. What we learned, was that fear should be squashed with bravery and is only allowed in socially acceptable situations. No wonder we feel like failures if we are fearful.

An interesting thing happens when you feel fearful and rather than appose the feeling, you accept it. That alone, weakens its grip on you. You acknowledge the feeling, “fearful feeling” and you let it go.

After you let it go, you will notice that bravery has taken its place. Any feeling you let go of will be replaced by its opposite. Let go of fear and bravery takes its place. Let go of hatred and love takes its place. Let go of anxiety and tranquility takes its place. Let go of confusion and certainty takes its place. There is only one exception which is when you let go of a happy feeling, it is not replaced with anything. With that in mind, you never have to try and hold onto a happy feeling. You should train your mind to let go of all thoughts and feelings.

By letting go of fearful feelings, you feel brave. When you feel brave, you have less fear presenting itself to you, less often. You no longer have to avoid the feeling. Since fear is a stressful feeling, the more you let go, the less stress you have. You remain calm, peaceful, brave, happy and content.

Be sure to tune in to my next post “The two key factors for enlightenment.”