Love Conquers Fear

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  Why not be afraid.  The government and politicians have been doing all that they can to make us afraid.  The news incites fear in us daily.  Our doctors thrive on our fears.  Even our religions preach fear!  One last time, be afraid.

Notice what it feels like to tremble, cry and shake.  Fall to pieces in the suffering of fear.  And in that dark and precious place, look inward.  Feel what fear feels like.  It is stifling and at the same time chaotic.  When you get there, breathe; one breath at a time.  Let go of the world around you and stay focused on the pounding of your own heart.  Yes.  This is the feeling of fear being released.  Know it.  And look again.  What else resides within that heart of yours? Why does it beat so powerfully?  Courage is the ability to keep your heart open in the face of threat (hence the word cor=heart).   There is courage in there.  Let it out.  Rise above the threatening maladies of our times.  Be emboldened and empowered to keep your heart open, against all of the suggestions to close your heart in submission to fear.

When you open your heart, yes, you may feel other’s pain.  And you will know it is their pain, not yours.  And with an open heart you will be guided in compassionate action. If you are wreathing in pain and fear, you are not able to be there for those who may need you.

We impart our energies on one another.  Would you want to fall to the weakness of those who are blinded by fear around you?  Or would you want to show courage so that others might arise and stand beside you?  Can you find your own way in the chaotic darkness of fear?  Or are you better served by opening your heart, opening your mind, opening your eyes, and using your voice?  Use the energy that arises from the fearful pounding of your heart, by opening your heart and taking compassionate action, opening your mind with tolerance of others, seeing both the ugly and the beauty that exists around us (please remember to see the beauty), and by speaking the truth.  The truth is what arises when both the heart and the mind are open.  We cannot speak the truth when our hearts are closed with fear; only when they are open with courage and compassion.  We cannot know the truth when our minds are closed with fear, only when they are open with tolerance, curiosity, and acceptance.

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  And know the difference between fear and love.  And when love extends his/her hand to you from deep within your own heart, let it lift you.  Rise up in that love.  Share it. 

Let it also open your mind.  When consciousness beckons you from deep within your own mind, greet it.  Become aware of your own consciousness.  That little voice that speaks to you from within your own mind – no one could be more frightful than it.  Greet that voice by smiling upon it.  When you can smile upon that voice, then in its dissolution you can dissolve the fear mongering of all others.

Know the power of fear – energy just waiting for guidance before bursting into action.  And look inward to find that guidance.  Don’t listen to me, or anyone who might use your fear to keep you weak.  We were each given a heart with which to feel, a brain with which to think, eyes to see, and voices to use.  Become empowered by looking within to calm the chaos.  Then fear becomes energy.  Let the momentum of that energy carry you forth with an open heart and mind.

Know the power of fear, and how to transform it into love.  Fear cannot find its way.  Love can.

Thus we will awaken from fear together.  We will lift each other up; raw from the time we spent in fear, vulnerable from our newfound self-empowerment.  Trembling not from fear, but from the exertion of a newfound strength, we will rise up on tremulous legs and embrace each other.  We will feel the freedom of letting go of fear, and not being bound by those who would use fear to control us.  In this freedom and in this space we will find love, and we will find it in each other.

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  Love is emerging!

Love, Debbie

Debbie Norris

Debbie Norris

Deborah Norris, Ph.D. is author of In the Flow: Bridging the Science and Practice of Mindfulness, and Editor-in-Chief of MindBodyJournal.com. Dr. Norris is Founder of The Mindfulness Center™, based in Washington, D.C. She is Psychologist-in-Residence and Director of the Psychobiology of Healing Program at American University, and past professor at Georgetown University Medical School. Renowned for her online meditation teacher programs, The Science of Mindful Awareness (SOMA), Dr. Norris is an internationally recognized speaker and educator on mindfulness, yoga, and integrative mind-body therapies. A health scientist with over 40 years of experience ranging from traditional medical and psychotherapeutic practices to integrative therapies and lifestyle practices, she teaches and conducts research in mindfulness, behavioral medicine and other holistic approaches to happiness and well-being.



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