QUIET FEARLESSNESS

When I hear the word fear many images arise. I see sweat, wide-eyes and tremblingly.   I hear the elevated and intense pounding of a beating heart and rapid anxious breaths.  I can even smell the fear of the unknown next moment, usually imagined as horrific, scary, and threatening.  Fear is Paralyzing not just in the moment but perpetually if it attaches itself like a virus to our soul and psyche. I can only describe it as an exaggerated reaction when security or control is taken (or unconsciously given) away. Justifiably there are circumstances that absolutely confirm the necessity for such extreme fear, but in my life most of the fears I have seen myself or others react to were more imagined and exaggerated than real in a specific moment. They may have been rooted in a personal experience or someone else's tale of trauma but they seem to persist long after their expiration date.  To me, those fears are more dangerous as they become a prison and we can become the prisoner without even seeing the bars.

Then there is also the contrasting image of fear - the daring or unexpected hero who, like a hunter trying to flush out his prey, or an accidental tourist stumbling into unexpected trouble, responds to suffocating fear by action, loudly and with daring, refusing to be suffocated by his urgent or childish fears.   The fear exists but the determination overrides the past and some breakthrough occurs ,a victory over  enemy fear,  at least for that moment.   It appears as fearlessness, bravery and an undaunted spirit but more likely to be the instinct to survive or save another.  Each time another mountain appears that needs to be climbed the memory of triumph may once again inspire him to wage war against the dormant shackles of fear and doubt but the fear is ever-present and the hero may feel uncertain of his being able to muster continued bravery and perseverence.

I have been in both camps in my lifetime. I have, however, found another.

This fearlessness resides in a pool of quiet faith and contemplation. It relies on the knowledge that there is a spirit of life, an energetic balance that surrounds and embraces.  It does not ponder what might be but only what there is today. It is neither diminished by the past nor concerned about the greatness or failure of the future. Repetition and application of this position, this stance,  this faith, in spite of the  swirling  currents of life that could unsettle the spirit and mind can dispell that unknown anticipation and replace it with the wide eyes surety of stepping carefully into the next moment fearlessly. Staying in the moment , not projecting past into future allows for response instead of reaction, with faith instead of fear. 'If you are handed it, you can handle it"..... No fear.