On Confronting Fear

One of the things that keeps coming up in the 30DC is the mention of fear as an impediment to action which thereby leads an individual to stasis and failure. A myriad of techniques have been proposed by various people for overcoming such fears, none of them seem to be a bona fide panacea. What i am proposing is not another "method", it's simply a perspective, my own. It works for me, perhaps it will work for you too.

In his novel, Dune, Frank Herbert introduces something he calls "The litany Against Fear" and it goes like this:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Now, this is all well and good, and if you're of a philosophical nature, then you'll probably be able to get something useful out of that statement. If you're a little more modest in terms of your intellectual refinement, you may not find anything of value at all in that statement. Either way, Lady Fortune DOES NOT CARE! What you need to understand about fear is that everybody suffers from it to one degree or another. There is no such thing as a "fearless" person, it's a contradiction in terms. Part of being a person is dealing with fear, because let's face it, unlike a high IQ, we are ALL capable of, and indeed PRONE, to fear. Once you get used to that idea, it has a salutary effect upon the psyche. It's kind of like realizing that the folks you see on TV, the heroes & idols, the big names and celebrities, the members of royal families, politicans and others, that ALL of them have to perform the humbling act of defecation and wiping their own asses practically (for most) every day! From there, it's just a matter of specifics, i.e. what brand of toilet paper is used, whether any special breathing techniques for optimum results are employed, or whether some toilets are better than others. In short, it's all about CRAP.

You see, fear is a waste product, it's a poison. Colonics can be helpful in such cases. So, spread those cheeks and Shout at the Devil! Everybody else does...

Some fibre and a little bit of exercise may also help. I'm just sayin'