A son of control and anticipation, professing from the negative experiences of one’s past.

At its core, fear is a perceived inability to control the future coupled with anticipation of a negative outcome. The notion of control is itself an illusion. What we have the ability to do is either respond or react to the present moment, but not control it. This is the difference between being in the moment, or of the moment. Being in the moment means responding to the ebb and flow of the tides of events without being attached to them; while being of the moment means reacting to events, being swayed by every wave of disappointment and anticipation that we experience.

Fear takes many forms, the most prevalent of which are anger and sadness. The former is masked fear, while the latter is stagnant fear. Both phenomenon are simply ways the ego seeks to preserve its perceived control over its notion of reality. When true fear is acknowledged rather than allowed to stagnate or be masked, an opportunity for true healing and insight can take place. In facing our deepest fears lies our greatest opportunity to triumph over the limitations of our ego, which often sits opposed to our desire for growth.

Too often, the thoughts and habits that we mistakenly grow up understanding as appropriate means of survival are merely the fear based awareness and limitations of our past. These ego-driven self-fulfilling realities do not speak to our ability to thrive as spiritual beings, free of fear, because they are built upon the notion of survival. In order to thrive instead of survive, we must understand that our personal growth occurs not in spite of, but because of the presence of fear, precisely because we have consciously chosen to fully embrace it.