Fear – Real or Perceived?

Fear can be a paralyzing emotion. It can stop us in our tracks. It can also give us the adrenaline needed to run away and protect ourselves in dangerous situations.

If you are out in the wild, the fear of lions, tigers and other wild animals is a great asset to keep you safe. If you are sitting in your living room watching a documentary on dangerous predators, being afraid of them is not useful nor helpful and can, in fact, be more detrimental to your health. We need to use discernment – is this real for us in this moment? Are we in danger right now?

If you are walking down the street in a bigger city, and you are on high alert – constantly scanning for danger, your nervous system is on. Your senses are heightened and pumping the right chemicals into your system to give you what you need to fight or flee. Fear is meant to be a short-term, in-the-moment ability to protect yourself.

Fear is healthy in circumstances where your life or well-being is truly threatened. You need to have the inner knowing – the inner awareness – the inner ability to react quickly and save yourself or another.

The problem becomes when you are afraid of everything. When fear is the dominant emotion and reaction to life, it can have immense and detrimental consequences to your physical, emotional and mental health.

In this crazy, chaotic world where ‘fear’ is the emotion that is sold like a commodity – how do we balance ourselves? How do we decide what is a real threat when the news and social media constantly push ‘fear’ of everything, including life and each other?

You must be able to distinguish between a real threat and a perceived threat. Your subconscious doesn’t know the difference. If you believe you are threatened – your body will respond in kind.

It is so important to become aware – deeply aware – of your triggers, your phobias, your ability to distinguish between real and perceived threats.  This is where inner work becomes essential. You must get to know yourself, your life, your ability to respond in life and what is directly impacting you now.

You need the ability to see something, care about someone, without carrying the fear-based load to resolve it yourself. What do you have control over right now? You must detach yourself from the fearmongering and lingering ‘realities’ of the world. It doesn’t mean you don’t care, but that you will not put yourself and your health in jeopardy for a narrative you can’t control.

Breathe and ask yourself, in this moment, ‘Am I threatened?’ What do I have control over? Can you care but not carry? Can you respond how your soul needs you to, without compromising your long-term health and dragging yourself into a downward spiral of exhaustion?

Fear – friend or foe?