The Power of Fear
How fear can wreak havoc when gone unchecked.
How are you doing?
But really — how are you?
The world is in a bit of a precarious state right now. The landing page of CNN looks more and more like my Netflix dashboard with each passing day.
We have Trump getting impeached: live (who also recently hired the same attorneys that defended Jeffrey Epstein), misinformation destroying our democracy, Iran shooting down innocent passenger planes and the bodies were finally repatriated to their countries, erasing of the LGBTQ+ community with Missouri to criminalize drag queens reading books to children, democratic presidential candidates fighting each other for the nomination, thousands rallying for the Women’s March against an opposition movement… led by women (yes, you read that right), and tampering of historical archives in the National Archives Museum that blurred out signs condemning Trump in the exhibition on women’s voting rights. All within the past few weeks.
Though each headline is different, they all share a similar story: fear.
Fear of control. (Iran)
Fear of losing control. (Missouri, presidential nomination)
Fear of not being enough. (Opposition to Women’s March)
Fear of the future. (National Archives)
Fear of the truth. (Trump)
Fear is a powerful emotion. It drives people to survive or give up on life. It has started and ended wars. It empowers us to do heroic or damaging things to those we love most. When unchecked, fear can wreak havoc all around us.
Although our fear can be instilled in us in many different ways (nature, nurture, and everything in between), the only way it can be eradicated is through ourselves. Nobody can do the work for us.
It doesn’t matter how loud we scream, how long we cry, or how many we hurt — the sooner we can stop feeding fear our time, energy, and belief, we can start moving humanity towards a better tomorrow.
I have so much compassion for everyone on their own unique journey towards enlightenment, but until we can find the courage to face our own fears, we will be stuck in this perpetual cycle of pain hurting one another.
What are your fears?
I recently published a podcast about my highs and lows of 2019 and some advice on setting goals for this new year. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!
I host a podcast called Yellow Glitter, mindfulness through the eyes and soul of a gay Asian. You can find it on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Overcast, and TuneIn.
Along with a bit of weekly mindfulness, I send out my favorite things I discover each week on my email newsletter at Mindful Moments.
Thanks for reading! Until next time.
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