As you may have gathered, chriscurnow.com is re-reading Synchronicity at the moment. I read something this morning that reminded me of the poem Our Greatest Fear by Marianne Williamson (quoted by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech.)
So much of our work lives are driven by fear. We don’t speak up because we are afraid of the consequences. We don’t apply for that job or seek an interview with that person because we are afraid of their reaction. We work hard and long because it is easier than doing the more important things. We look for prestige in expensive cars or high powered jobs because we are afraid that no-one will notice us.
What would it be like to let go of that fear and be free of it? To discover our higher purpose and become single mindedly focussed on striving towards that purpose? To find that we are indeed powerful? To find that each of us has an important role in shaping the future?
According to “A Course in Miracles” there are only two choices…fear or love. And one of
these choices is illusion.
“Teach only Love for that is what you are.”
(ACIM)
Thank God for “A Course in Miracles”!
I don’t believe the fear is limited to our work environment. I see a thick ribbon of fearful thoughts running through most things…relationships, our sense of how we look, our ability to expose our creativity…
I’m reading Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn, specifically the chapter “Working with Fear, Panic and Anxiety”. The very basic premise I’m getting is this. Rather than saying, “I am afraid of blah, blah, blah”, we notice that it is our ‘thoughts’ that are fearful, not necessarily us. The gift of being human is we can change our thoughts simply by noticing them.
When we understand the power that we have over our thoughts, we gain separation from fear and make more space for courage to appear.
Sue
Sue,
Sorry it’s taken me so long to approve your comment. MT should automatically approve you but it doesn’t. I’m looking into that.
Yes, fear does run through all of our lives. The last line of your comment is one of those banner thoughts we need to hang in our minds.
Thanks for your comment.
Chris