Dear Joshua,
In 12 step programs we say that fear comes from thinking you might lose something you have or thinking you might not get something you want ... can fear be whittled down to this description which would make it more simple (maybe) to find what the fear is and then work on it?
Kate
Dear Kate,
There are only two emotions, love and fear. True fear exists in the absence of love and unconditional love exists in the absence of fear. However, there is always a mix of love and fear and in every moment and in every situation you live in that mix. Sometimes there's more love and sometimes there's more fear.
There are several types of fear such as the fear of loss, the fear of separation and the fear of change. However, it is all just the fear of the unknown. If you can learn to understand that the universe is flooding you with well-being at all times, then you can trust that you are supported regardless of the situation. It doesn't matter if you feel safe and comfortable, because you're always supported anyway. You can choose to restrict the flow of well-being by choosing to entertain your fears, or you can choose to live boldly, embracing unconditional love for all people, places, events and things. It is a choice you make and that's all there is to it.
Your fear of the unknown is that something bad could happen. Well, your judgment of good and bad is just that; a judgment call. You choose whether something is good or bad, right or wrong. When you learn to look at everything from the higher perspective, what you are doing is learning to see everything as good and right. This is a very important concept. When you come to habitually frame every circumstance in a light that serves what it is that you really want, you learn to see everything as part of the process and therefore as good.
Now, once you realize that this Earth is your playground and has been designed to provide you with experiences which help you to expand, then you must realize that it is all happening for you. It is all part of the growth and expansion that you intended to experience prior to your birth. You are moving toward receiving all that you want in this life, but your resistance (caused by limiting beliefs) is holding you back. That stress caused from the continual resistance to what is wanted is enhanced when you feel that things are bad or wrong. If you did not think things were wrong, you would not hold onto resistance. It could not be possible.
Imagine that you are in a car on your way to a wonderful vacation. You are on the highway, but with one foot you press the accelerator and with the other you press the brakes. This battle between your feet causes stress on the car. Imagine that the car is your body. When you desire something, you press the accelerator. When you resist your desire (by holding onto a limiting belief) you press the brakes. Over time this causes inner conflict and stress on the body.
When you demand to keep seeing something as wrong and you refuse to change your position, you are resisting what you want. When you allow everything to flow as it is flowing, without seeing it as wrong, you ease your way to what you want. We will use the example of floating in a rubber tube down a lazy river in summer. Most of the time the river flows gently and everything is good. Once in a while a rock will appear in the middle of the river. You simply have to navigate around it without giving it much attention and your pleasant journey continues. However, if you choose to see the rock as a bad thing and you believe you must pull it from the river so that others don't have to be bothered by it as you are bothered by it, then you needlessly slow your journey and you make things harder for yourself.
Sometimes the river flows quickly and you paddle your arms against the current to slow your speed. This too is resistance, but if you're not seeing the speed of the current as bad or wrong, you're simply managing your own speed, then this is a proper use of resistance. Sometimes the river is too calm and you paddle your arms to get moving. This too is appropriate as long as you do not view the speed of the river as bad or wrong. The river will bring you to your destination. It does you no good to fight the natural flow of the river.
You are loved. You are love.
Joshua
