Fear and Anticipation

Fear from Anticipation

Nothing will bring you peace but yourself.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Cited in the Calendar of Wisdom

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Cited in the Mystical Hours

Brother Teasdale offers this reflection on FDR’s words…

“This often-repeated quote has lost much of its context since it was first uttered by President Roosevelt during WWII…[As President,] he knew that fear was a psychological problem– that it had more to do with human doubt, uncertainty and the lack of clarity about the unknown than with real danger.

Human fear functions much like the stock market: nothing really makes it rise or fall except our psychological states of confidence or fearfulness about whether it will rise or fall. Our fear comes from a similar place of doubt, often with no objective reality behind them. Awareness is the answer”.

Fear is often considered the anchor of the ego just as its antidote, courage, is required for any steps the spiritually inclined person has to take towards his/her freedom and to attain any lasting self knowledge. 

Fear, as I understand it, comes from doubt about what direction or what action would be best to take- therefore fear and a sense of paralysis hold hands and keep us from moving or defending ourselves. 

Fear also arrives from our presumptions; or for the longest time, there has been a clear connection between fear and apprehension,, but we have also acknowledged those worrisome links and emotional connections between fear and anticipation. 

Being afraid to act or presuming that you already know how it’s going to end or resolve…no matter what action you choose, or what action you feel compelled to do! 

This “catch 22” place can be crippling…

Br. Teasdale does offer us a solution… and yes, it is a long range solution called awareness because awareness does not arrive casually. It arrives out of intention and /or crisis, or it can come graciously to us suddenly as an “Aha” feeling of recognition.

Without awareness of our inner thoughts and deep feelings we can remain reactive, almost reptilian creatures. 

We need reason and repose, perspective and serenity, to arrive at that lasting quality of awareness that serves to make us present to the here and now.