I almost didn’t write these thoughts down.

Lately I’ve been contemplating fear.  It’s easy to do if I examine the root of every aspect of suffering in both my personal life and similarly on a global scale.  Whenever I trace a supposed cause of emotional distress (or occasionally physical pain) I am currently undergoing, I am able to pick out a few fears that I had unknowingly been avoiding, thus creating that discomfort.

So, what does this mean?  If I feel heartbroken, is it because I fear she may not love me anymore?  What if she finds someone she loves even more and I never find anyone else?  These are fears.  If I feel worried, is it because I fear I may fail at the dream that I have poured my heart in to?  Is it because I may never pay off my debts, never make enough money, and end up living on the streets due to my own bad decisions?  These are more fears.  If I feel depressed or angry, is it because I fear the human race is unsustainable and doomed to self destruction?  Is it because I fear that optimism is for fools and we will never truly have peace?  Is it because that due to my own actions or some other governing institution beyond my control that some day I will die?  Yes, these are fears.

But they are only fears. And how they affect you depends on one thing…perspective

Am I the calling the shots or am I the victim?  Am I driving the car or am I strapped in the kid’s car seat?  Am I the creator or am I the consumer?

I am going to suggest something to the world and that is that we all grow up and take responsibility for our lives.  It is all too often that we avoid these uncomfortable aspects of our daily experiences and live these same emotional loops over and over not only and inhibit our personal growth, but limit the evolutionary potential for society as a whole.  I am in no way claiming that this is an easy task given that we are are over-saturated daily with cushy, instant gratifications, ceaseless media that is either turning you on or scaring you under your bed, and a tapeworm of a political/economic system that is rapidly bringing the world to its knees.  Plus, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like had I grown up somewhere like Uganda or Haiti.  But I am suggesting this all nonetheless.

 What do we seem to fear the most?  I mean, the deepest, and most prevalent fear across the board is the fear of death.  That, to me, is where cosmic humor shines through.  It’s crazy!  We go to war under the illusion that we can somehow prevent further death.  We give up our human rights to corporate entities and governing bodies under the guise of security…from what, death?  We work destructive or dead-end jobs, take too many drugs, watch endless amounts of television, and overeat all to somehow avoid addressing that fundamental fear that everyone single one of us is going to die. So, if you are dropped out of an airplane with no parachute and are plummeting towards the inevitable, would you close your eyes curl up in a ball or would you fly?

But, like I said, I almost didn’t write these thoughts down.  I was afraid that you would judge me, that my ideas might come across as pretentious or misinformed, or you might prove me wrong.  

Still, they are only fears, and I’m working on that.

       

“And the time will come when you see we’re all one,
and life flows on within you and without you.”

It’s Just A Ride
by Bill Hicks

The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it’s real, because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round and it has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly colored and it’s very loud. And it’s fun, for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: ‘Is this real? Or is this just a ride?’ And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say ‘Hey! Don’t worry, don’t be afraid — ever — because… this is just a ride.’ And we kill those people.

‘Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride! Shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry; look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.’ It’s just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that — ever notice that? — and we let the demons run amok. But it doesn’t matter, because… it’s just a ride, and we can change it any time we want. It’s only a choice. No effort. No worry. No job. No savings and money. Just a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy bigger guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one.

Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, into a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defense each year and, instead, spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would do many times over — not one human being excluded — and we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever. In peace.