Love or Fear?

It has been a long time since I sat down to write a post. Actually, I was rather shocked to see it has been 6 years! Time flies, huh? It's good to be back.

We are certainly living in the strangest time I have ever been through in all my years on this planet. The world is experiencing an unprecedented "Global Pause" as it has been called. And hey, that sure sounds better than Lockdown. So much is happening around us it's hard to even process. Some of what is happening is horrific, like all the lives lost due to the pandemic as well as all the collateral damage due to businesses being shut down, people laid off, economic challenges, and the shortages of food and supplies. I think when this is over we will all appreciate the availability of toilet paper in a whole new light!

At the same time, there are some silver linings in all of this. For example, there has been a significant change in the level of pollution. There are people who are slowing down enough to reconnect with the family they live with and through technology with those near and far. I've seen people out walking more. I've heard of family game nights and dance parties. People are engaging with life from a simpler, less materialistic perspective.

In other words, life is handing us a mixed bag as it always does, but in this time of a pandemic, the bag contains elements that are far less common since they are generally found only at the extremes.

That said, FEAR is everywhere. In fact, when I do leave the house for necessities or for my walks in nature, it is palpable. As I get in my car and start backing out of the driveway, it's as if my mind goes into a hyper-vigilant state just waiting for whatever may lurk around every corner. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

And then, I remember to breathe. Breathe. Pause. Recenter. Calm down. Relax. All that stress and worry won't accomplish a thing. In fact, it will simply serve to put my body into fight or flight survival mode. My energy will contract. My mood will darken. But the worst thing that can happen, and in fact will if I continue to be sucked into the mire of fear, is that I will hamper my immune system just when perhaps I need it the most. That's right, as Dr. Bruce Lipton has explained in his amazing book The Biology of Belief, we can be in one of two states, either growth and repair OR in survival mode. We can't be in both at the same time.

Now lest you think over the past 6 years I have taken on a Debbie Downer persona, I have not. I'm just sharing what I think we all go through whether we admit it or not. When we feel threatened, whether by the current challenges related to the coronavirus, or whether we react to some other trigger, it doesn't matter. Fear is fear and it creates the same body chemistry even if the so called threat is simply in our imagination. Fear needs to be acknowledged rather than denied. Sometimes fear contains a message of something we really do need to pay attention to that is actually actionable.
For example, if you have been ignoring healthy self-care, eating lots of sugar and fat, not getting enough sleep, etc. and you fear you may be placing yourself more at risk well...perhaps you are. But don't just stay locked in fear. Change the things you can.

If however, your fear is about something in the past that can't be changed or in the future that can't be controlled, once acknowledged, the fear must be let go. I know. I can literally hear you saying, "Easier said than done" and just to be clear I agree. That's why we need a new way to look at fear.
Anyone who has read my writings knows that I love a good acronym. The acronym I have heard in the past for FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. Definitely a good one, but somehow I needed something else. And that's when it came to me in a moment of silent prayer.
FEAR: Face Everything And Rise!
(Not coincidentally I'm sure, this came to me during the season of Lent, just prior to Easter.)

Face Everything And Rise! <- Brilliant if I say so myself.
Why? Because it is such a beautiful statement about our capabilities.
Life is good, but is is NOT always easy. In fact, due to illness, pain, loss, aging, and death, there is a lot to contend with BUT with trust in the power of Love, we are up to the task. The greatest suffering comes when we succumb to the thought that "this shouldn't be happening" or the other devastating thought, "I can't handle it." Now, THAT is when fear triggers suffering and gets the upper hand.

There is no greater power in all the universe than LOVE. In fact, that which appears to be other than Love is merely a denial of love. Love Always Wins - another acronym - because that's the LAW. We might not readily see it, but it is true. I was listening to a talk this morning by my friend James Twyman and he said quite simply, "Truth is truth. Love is love." <- Love that. It's a fact. Thanks James for being one who embodies that message. You are an inspiration to us all.

The other apparent lack of Love manifests when we have a lack of trust in Love. This can often occur because we fail to see ourselves as channels of Love rather than as the Source of Love. If you try to be the source of Love, you will find yourself exhausted. But the Good News is that Love is unlimited and always available for us to tap into if we have the willingness to call on grace and allow ourselves to be instruments of that beautiful divine energy. Yes, we need to say Yes and that takes some quiet and a pause.

Oh, guess what? Now might just be the perfect time for transformation. So much of what we have been too busy or distracted with may have kept us in the not so comfortable comfort zone and now we have been thrust into what seems most days to be a weird alternate reality that for now we need to call home. So, what now?

Face Everything And Rise! Rise to the occasion. Rise to a higher level of consciousness with which to deal with people, circumstances and events. Rise to the choice of Love over fear in everything you do. This is what will ultimately serve to either strengthen or weaken you. It is NOT what you do, it is the energy with which you do it!

A timely example is people wearing masks in public. Some people wearing masks look absolutely terrified and it is clear they are wearing them strictly out of fear. Other people look your way, and even if you can't see their mouths, you can tell they are smiling. You can see it in their eyes. They are wearing a mask out of Love - Love for others as well as themselves. It's the same with social distancing. It is what we have been asked to do. You can see the people who do so in fear, but yet we can leave the same 6 feet between us out of Love. It truly changes everything.

Choose this day which energy you will serve for it will be your Master.
Will it be Love or will it be fear? You get to choose.
You can choose to live in fear or Face Everything And Rise!
Choose Love and rise you will!
But don't take my word for it. You have to put this into action. It's not a one time choice either. We have to keep choosing Love moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day. By repeatedly choosing Love, we can make it a more natural, conscious choice that becomes more habitual. No, we will never get it "right" all the time and we may even screw things up. But that's ok. We just need to choose again. I think that's why my favorite line of the Bible is "Behold I make all things new.' What a beautiful, merciful world we live in if we can call on Love to hold and guide us.

So, with that I will leave you with yet another acronym - this time for LOVE:
 LOVE is a Life Of Vibrant Energy.
Ah yes...take me to that river.

Be well. Be blessed.
With Love,
Mary Ellen