The Joke's on Fear
Fear makes life/things much more serious than they actually are.
Think about all the fears that drive so much human behavior. Any time there's anger, guilt, paranoia, denial, self-sabotage...even cynicism--it's just fear pointing to the potential for pain and loss in a way that practically shuts off the laugh-at-yourself mechanism.
Trust me on this--laughter is so happy and delighted when it gets to come out. So when the ol' meany "fear-dumb" comes along and shouts at you with all the horrible things that could happen if you don't chase them off with "fear itself" in its numerous disguises--hostility, recrimination, grievance, unforgiveness, blame, shame, etc.--things get way more serious than needed. BTW: That's how fear keeps itself employed.
Now, don't get me wrong. That adrenalin-kick-in-the-butt stimulus in the face of present danger, like if you are about to get eaten or blown up, or balled out is vital to our survival. But it is only supposed to last long enough to either get your ass down the road or to pounce on your adversary. It's not supposed to be chronic, like worrying or complaining or endless justifications of your existence.
So, it's helpful to catch yourself as you go down the all-too-familiar paths to fear and stop and repent (turn around) and open yourself up to the antidote to fear--love --and allow it to take you over and to direct your ways. You'll be surprised how funny the source of your fear becomes. You may even find yourself telling jokes about it like, "I was so scared that....(fill in punchline.)
And if you want to see how much more subtle fear can be, check this perspective out from A Course in Miracles,
As Jeshua ben Joseph succinctly put it: "Fear not."
So you want to laugh more? Then learn to see those fears for what most of them are--a joke.
Think on't
Andy Rumi
Think about all the fears that drive so much human behavior. Any time there's anger, guilt, paranoia, denial, self-sabotage...even cynicism--it's just fear pointing to the potential for pain and loss in a way that practically shuts off the laugh-at-yourself mechanism.
Trust me on this--laughter is so happy and delighted when it gets to come out. So when the ol' meany "fear-dumb" comes along and shouts at you with all the horrible things that could happen if you don't chase them off with "fear itself" in its numerous disguises--hostility, recrimination, grievance, unforgiveness, blame, shame, etc.--things get way more serious than needed. BTW: That's how fear keeps itself employed.
Now, don't get me wrong. That adrenalin-kick-in-the-butt stimulus in the face of present danger, like if you are about to get eaten or blown up, or balled out is vital to our survival. But it is only supposed to last long enough to either get your ass down the road or to pounce on your adversary. It's not supposed to be chronic, like worrying or complaining or endless justifications of your existence.
So, it's helpful to catch yourself as you go down the all-too-familiar paths to fear and stop and repent (turn around) and open yourself up to the antidote to fear--love --and allow it to take you over and to direct your ways. You'll be surprised how funny the source of your fear becomes. You may even find yourself telling jokes about it like, "I was so scared that....(fill in punchline.)
And if you want to see how much more subtle fear can be, check this perspective out from A Course in Miracles,
" The ego can and does
allow you to regard yourself as supercilious, unbelieving, "light-hearted," distant, emotionally
shallow, callous, uninvolved and even desperate, but not really afraid.
Minimizing fear, but not its undoing, is the ego's constant effort, and is indeed
a skill at which it is very ingenious. How can it preach separation
without upholding it through fear, and would you listen to it if you
recognized this is what it is doing? (TXTB
11:189)
As Jeshua ben Joseph succinctly put it: "Fear not."
So you want to laugh more? Then learn to see those fears for what most of them are--a joke.
Think on't
Andy Rumi
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