There is some solace in doing a thing for many years with the regularity of a ticking clock. That is what I have read somewhere. The article mentioned potted plants that were watered, dogs that were taken for walks, clothes that were ironed, weekly letters written to mom …etc
But I have never had the grit and determination needed to do this. Just look at my blog entries! This time I have come back to say hello after almost 2 weeks!
But I take solace behind Paulo Coelho’s words. Some are born to plant seeds and some to build he says.
I like to convince myself that I am a seed planter. Now pods burst when the time is ripe…right? Not when the clock ticks…right?
So what shall we talk about today? What seed shall we plant?
Have you noticed? One of our most powerful emotions is fear. The heart to reacts, blood rushes, and our thoughts are out of control. Fear is a great emotion.
Fear can be as helpful as it can be harmful.
Fear of God keeps us on the right path. Fear of calamity helps us to be cautious. Fear of failure allows us to be prepared for events. We can use fear as a positive emotion that guides us toward preparedness. It saves us from the embarrassment of a sloppy job. Fear improves our performance and enhances our self esteem.
But this can happen only if we are able to use the fear for positive action. Fear must be a starting point. It can mould our thoughts toward better planning. Can I anticipate a disaster? What can I do to prevent it? If I cannot prevent the disaster, how am I prepared for it? If I have done everything I can possibly do, then I can rest and be peaceful, for fear has served its purpose.
But if fear gains control, if the fear is faceless or nameless then it is corrosive. It deletes the joy in present life, for an unidentified and perhaps improbable disaster in the future. Ultimately such fear forces us to live in constant sadness, visualising and perhaps living a calamity that is not true.
These are tough times. Recession troubles us all. But let not thoughts of sadness take away what little joy there is in our everyday life. Every problem has a solution. This too will pass. Meanwhile the world has learnt a lesson. A lesson about the virtue of fear…
This is very interesting. I think about it a lot of times. I think fear of failure is something that has hauted my thoughts from time that I can ever remember. Its not just fear of failure, i think what adds to the fear is how important the result is for you.. In psychology we learnt about 2 kinds of stress that is caused by differant emotions, fear included - called eu-stress(positive stress, like before your wedding) and de-stress(negative stress, like after a bad incident).. so i guess fear can be a cause and an effect of other emotions/thoughts, depending on how early the cause of the fear is understood.. whew.. that's the most complex statement I've made :)
ReplyDeleteGood article, Ma!