"Would you believe," she said, "that the animals in Africa mostly likely to survive a fire are not the ones who run from it - they're the ones who run through it? Those who run away get tired, collapse, and are engulfed by the flames. Zebras, on the other hand, are especially great survivors because, rather than running away from the fire, they run through the fire."
"What a powerful analogy for the healing process," she continued. "The fire is fear. If we run away from fear, we die. However, if we simply turn around, face it, and run through it, we survive. And discover that on the other side is simply scorched earth, fresh for rebirth. And the fire is no longer moving towards us but away from us, no longer a threat to our survival."
Wow. Who would have thought that actually running through the source of one's fear would be the way to survive... and even thrive?
Diane Rehm (drshow.org) recently featured a gentleman who wrote a book called The Science of Fear: Why We Fear Things We Shouldn't and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger. He comments on a phenomenon that occurred post-911: "A lot of Americans were afraid to fly... So we got into our cars and drove.... But flying is far safer than driving. It's so much safer that, even if there had been a wave of fatal terrorist hijackings, flying still would have been far, far, far safer than driving.... Researchers found that the switch from flying to driving lasted for about one year. And during this time there was a spike in auto fatalities.... The estimated number of Americans who were killed because of the irrational decision to drive rather than fly:1,595."
3,000 people killed in New York, and 1,600 more killed on the road.... because of an unreasoned fear.
Most "fears" and defense mechanisms are simply energies within us that we create or are taught to create during childhood. At the mercy of our environment and dependent on others for survival, we unconsciously devise strategies for getting our needs met and walls for protecting ourselves from those who may be violating our boundaries. Internally, we all have multiple personalities, reacting in different ways to different situations, depending on what served us best as children. These personalities are not to be feared or fought - they are simply trying to help. They are doing exactly what they were designed to do - to protect us from a perceived or actual threat.
As we grow older and more independent, these outdated and unnecessary personalities continue to operate. However, that's like running an updated computer on an outdated operating system. The old programs need to be removed, allowing the higher versions to be installed, opening the space for us to be who we truly are...
I frequently venture inside myself to unpack this concept of fear. It's one thing to tell myself, "Fear is an illusion", but when I'm swimming in that fear, the experience is truly intoxicating, like a poison warping my perception of what is truly worthy of fear. For example, if you've had a few glasses of wine but tell yourself, "No, I'm not drunk! This is all just an illusion!", it won't negate the fact that your tongue feels like lead and the room is spinning around you! Best to simply wait and allow the body to release the toxin.
This, too, will pass.
Sometimes I won't even realize that a fear is operating within me. I may be in a situation, reacting a certain way, and it isn't until I stop, take a breath, and become aware of my body that I sense the resistance to an uncomfortable energy within me. "Oh! I didn't realize that was there!" I relax the space around it, accept that it's there and that it's okay, and - POOF! - it usually disappears.
Sometimes, though, fear can be so intoxicating that my only choice is to surrender to it. Surrender: what a magnificent gift. Because, when I finally do, all resistances dissolve, and the "fear" floods in. I surrender by lying down, breathing into my body, and simply telling myself, "I surrender", "I accept that I feel afraid", or whatever feels right to say, whatever feels the most freeing.
And, in that moment, as my muscles release, my breathing deepens, and the fear floods in, the most spectacular awakening occurs. It finally dawns on me that:
1.It isn't "fear". It is just energy. I'm the only one who is feeling and labeling it as "fear". Energy comes and energy goes. As Einstein says, it is neither created nor destroyed - just transformed. Also,energy follows thought, so the only qualities and powers given to energy are the ones I give it.
2.The "fear" is almost always irrational - never a life-or-death situation, though I may have given it that power. It is typically the fear of experiencing more fear or some other uncomfortable emotion that I'd rather not feel, like anger. And what is anger? A message that something internal or external is not in alignment with our truth, with our love of self. Worth listening to.
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