Some may recognize this as part of the litany against fear from Frank Herbert's Dune Novels. If you don't recognize it and you get a chance google "litany against fear" and read the whole thing. I recite the litany daily as part of my meditation along with passages from other various text because it applies so directly to everything in life, and there is so much truth found in this simple statement alone. Now I'm sure those who have read the Bible, the Torah, Qua-ran, or any other religious text can also think of or recite passages that deal directly with the notion of fear so one way or another we have all studied about it.
We have all been afraid of something at one time in our lives. That fear has probably helped us survive, and also held us back from doing some things. It can can keep you from jumping from a height that your body can't handle without breaking bones, and it could keep you from asking out that girl you've had a crush on since you were kids. By the way its to late because she is married now, and I know some of you jumped anyway and were on crutches for weeks so I'm glad you survived. Anyway the point is fear is a part of life and can have positive and negative effects on all of us in a multitude of ways.
When we are children our parents try to instill a hopefully helpful amount of fear that helps us survive to adulthood. That is just good parenting, but the problem comes with the next step. Eventually we become adults and hopefully mature. We learn life lessons, and apply or even transcend things we were taught as children. Despite learning and growing though we still have fear.
Sometimes fear grips us so much we don't even want to leave the house. Anxiety builds and you just want to stay protected in your own fort. For some, only certain people and things can calm those fears and allow them to function. I am not just talking about others I'm talking about me. Most can't admit that fear motivates and sets the course for much of there lives, but I am not afraid to shout it to the world.
Like I said earlier I repeat the litany daily, and its so I can fight those fears and go out and do what needs to be done. Whether its go to work, the store, the doctor, or whatever it may be. Heck overcoming the fear of bad drivers on the road, criminals waiting out there to rob me, white hooded guys having meetings talking about me, terrorist plotting to kill me takes more guts than we are willing to give ourselves credit for. Its all in our heads everyday, and unless we admit it we can't overcome it.
Now you might be asking what is this rant all about. Its about what is wrong with us as a group. We are so afraid, in different ways and of different things, that we have just KILLED OUR MINDS! We adults who should be in control of our thoughts and emotions have let them overtake all logic and reason. Math skills are so depleted that we can't understand ratios, percentages, values. Memory is so blocked that we have no concept of history. Language is so distorted that we can't decipher that we are being lied to by all politicians and all media. Not just the TV, but the internet as well for all my conspiracy people, and not just the republicans but the democrats as well for all my conservative/liberal friends out there.
Lets agree to stop being so lazy when we have all the tools at our disposal. I could hear a rumor about a child molester living on my street, but I can actually go look at the sex offender registry and see that yes there actually is one a few houses down. If I had children this might help me make a decision on whether or not I want to buy the house next to this person.
On a more personal experience lets say I might want to move to lets say rural east Tennessee because there is a good job there. I don't like living far from work so I stay in the small town near that job, where I am lets say UNIQUE for that area. For those who didn't pick up on it, Unique = one of VERY few black people. Maybe I was told people like myself don't go out there or live there because of (insert fear here). Now it could very well be as those people have said, but so far I have not experienced it anymore than many places I have lived. I had to overcome my fears and the fears other people tried to put on my in order to not let a great opportunity pass me by. It has also I think been helpful to people here to meet me since there idea of UNIQUE people might be based on bad data.
On a side note please don't let me down Rhea County I'm going out on a limb for you here. You kind of did let me down that one time years ago, but I'm gonna chalk that one up to one ignorant person and not the whole county.
So what does it all mean. It means do whatever it takes to work out your fears. Free your mind, matter of fact just use your mind first. Someone tells you something don't just believe it because that certain person, TV channel, radio program, or internet site says its true. They usually give no references or sources, and without another thought our fear of (insert fear) kicks in and our brain checks out. Why not try engaging your brain and seeing if that what they are saying adds up. Its so easy to have a notion in your head and someone tells you your right and you go about your business as if everything is right with the world except truthfully you and that person were actually wrong if you had investigated. What I'm talking about is "Trust but Verify".
It will take time for us to overcome our fears, and I truly believe if we did our society would grow so much stronger. Right now one thing we could do is agree to stop with the memes on Facebook, and sharing links to blogs and sites that put out numbers, statements, and quote's that are either inaccurate or completely false. All we do is spread the fear to everyone including children. I have watched on a number of occasions when a simple inaccurate meme stirred up everyone's hate and discontent. From that point it didn't matter what the person they hated did, everyone was against him, all based on a lie. A simple pebble in the water that could ripple into our lives and everyone around us. Suddenly we treat each other wrong, we don't listen to one another, and sadly we don't help one another. This goes for all people whether your liberal, conservative, christian, or atheist it doesn't matter. Just take a moment and think before you speak or post. You could have a greater affect than you realize if you just use your brain.
DON'T LET FEAR KILL YOUR MIND!
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