Understand F.E.A.R. to Eliminate Fear

The Christmas Day Terrorist, the Newark Airport evacuation, continued conce s about Swine Flu (H1N1), and economic recovery from the “Great Recession” are causing widespread fear and panic. People are once again afraid to fly, afraid of those that seem sickly, and afraid that recovery will never come. The fear machine is busy keeping you afraid and keeping your mind off of reality. Fear is a product. Someone is selling it, and too many of us are buying it. It’s time to understand F.E.A.R. to eliminate fear from our lives and keep things in proper perspective. F.E.A.R. stands for “False Experiences Appearing Real” Whether an experience is real or imagined we still experience it. Fear originates in the mind. Our brilliant and infinite minds can conjure up anything we ask it to. If we ask it to present to us the worse case scenarios, our minds oblige us without hesitation. Though the experience is imagined, the effects are felt real time (e.g. increased heartbeat, perspiration, and muscle tension). Therefore, when we sit at home and imagine that terrible things can or will happen to us, we feel the effects of that. When the next news story comes on about the new potential danger we may be in, we allow that news to feed our imaginations, which produces more scenarios for us to be afraid of. These “False Experiences” continue to strengthen one another until we find ourselves paranoid, having panic attacks, or so stressed out that we can’t unwind. We falsely experience what COULD happen instead of really experiencing what IS happening When we do this, we end up spending more of our time within imagined experiences rather than the true experience of THIS moment. We lose our current moment for the sake of playing the “what if” game with ourselves. We deepen our connection with the imagined experiences and further neglect reality. This causes us to lose perspective and to forget to focus on facts. Once a moment ticks by, it is gone forever. We never get that moment back again. It was spent or invested on what we placed our attention on. This is why some 60 year olds lived 60 full and active years and some 60 year olds lived the same year 60 times. One invests their time in reality to grow while the other “spends” their time feeding falsehoods to their imagination believing they are protecting themselves. So what’s the reality? Everyday there is danger about. However, we have negotiated those dangers before to get to this point in our lives, and we can continue to do so. There isn’t a single day that is guaranteed for us. However, there are also steps we can take that more than likely lead us to happy and healthy lives. There are people in the world that wish to cause others harm. However, there are far more other people that wish to help others and live meaningful lives without hurting others. There are diseases and syndromes in the world that can be life changing or life ending. However, there are simple things that we all know to do, and are most likely doing, to increase our likelihood of remaining safe and healthy. Remember that the experience you mentally created isn’t real. If that false experience only appears real, then why worry about it? Peace of mind comes from lack of mental turmoil, and fear is turmoil on steroids. However, your mind will create more of what you place your attention on. To find peace of mind, focus your mind on peaceful thoughts and on the moment at hand. Starve your fear-based thoughts, scenarios and imaginings of attention. When you find yourself in fear generation mode, stop yourself…literally say “STOP” to yourself, put a mental X through those thoughts, and focus on the moment at hand. …and then there is F.A.I.T.H….. F.A.I.T.H. is also an acronym. It stands for “Facts Accepted In The Heart!” What facts do you accept as true in your heart from a spiritual perspective? They can give you strength, peace of mind, and they can help to eliminate fear.