Fear

‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself’.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Fear, it appears in the second nature of a
human-being. We live our lives in fear. Let us list a few ‘fears’

Fear of failure

Fear of parents – peers

Fear of Society

Fear of hell

Fear of death and above all

Fear of God

The
question is : why is it that fear dominates our lives. It is because we
are indoctrinated into ‘fear’ since our birth – it is sub-consciously instilled
in us. ‘Fear’ also stems from negative thinking. On the other hand, if properly
viewed fear can be a great motivator. Let us examine how : ‘fear of
failure’ can and should motivate us to work hard and succeed, ‘fear of parents
– peers’ – their criticism and castigation should motivate us to good action,
same should be the case with ‘fear of Society’ and ‘fear of hell’ should
motivate us to live a righteous life. As everyone likes to be immortalised and
is conscious that death is a certainty – ‘fear of death’ should motivate us to
achieve the impossible, namely, act with the purpose of serving selflessly.
This service society recognises as leaving ‘footprints on the sands of time’ –
for example – actions of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham
Lincoln, Chanakya, Alexander, Edison, Einstein and many more. All of them would
have harboured some fears including fear of failure, but they converted ‘fear’
into a motivator and it is for all of us to see what they achieved. ‘Fear’
for them ceased to be ‘fear’ – result – they have left ?foot prints on
the sands of time’.

The
fear that amazes me is ‘fear of GOD’. Rumi says God’s message to mankind
is : ‘Love me, fear me not’. Yet it is an achievement of human mind to
have converted an object – nay – fountain of love into an element of fear. GOD
in all religions is gracious, yet we have, consciously and
unconsciously, been taught to live in fear of HIM. W. B. Yeats proclaims : ‘GOD
that frightens is no GOD’. Hence, there should be no fear of GOD.

The
question is : What is the answer to ‘fear’. I would say challenge the fear –
face it. I also believe, fear can be conquered with knowledge. Emerson guides us
‘the wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for
deliverance from fear’. Robin Sharma recommends – ‘walk towards your
fear’. In other words, altering our attitude and perceptions of fear we
can convert ‘fear’ into ‘love’. Instead of being afraid, let us start loving
all those we are afraid off – in essence start loving ‘fear’ itself. Fear like
love is a reaction – emotion which arises in the mind. So let us make an
effort to change our thinking to replace ‘fear’ with ‘love’. Every fear
including all the ‘fears’ herein can be converted into Love. However, the
apparent contradiction is conversion of ‘fear of hell’ into ‘Love for hell’.
I think this should be the easiest because once there is no fear of hell – hell
ceases to exist. It has been rightly said ‘love has no place for fear’.

I
conclude by quoting Dada Vaswani :

‘Love is what we are born with, fear is what
we learn here’

So let
us stop fearing ‘fear’ and start loving our ‘fears’.

Author’s
note: I ask myself, have I overcome my ‘fears’ – the honest answer is : most
yes and some no – but the journey continues.