“The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” ~ Psalm 27:1
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” ~ Yoda in Star Wars
“He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” ~ Helen Keller
“Fear is the Mind Killer.” ~ Frank Herbert, Dune
I’m heart sore. Actually, I’ve felt that way to one degree or another for the last six years. It seems that violence and attacks on human rights have escalated to such a degree that not a day goes by when there aren’t news reports about some new incident. I haven’t really known what I could do to help make a change in our society. I’m just one person after all. But for some reason these last few shootings of people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time made me realize what’s causing all the upheaval. It’s fear.
We’re swimming in fear and it’s killing us. We carry guns because we’re afraid of others. We start wars because we’re afraid that we’re losing power and prestige. We try to control everything on the outside because we’re afraid to live anywhere but inside the little boxes we’ve made for ourselves. Frank Herbert was right when he wrote in Dune, that fear is the mind killer.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m afraid, my mind whirls and I am unable to make a decision. My brain is on autopilot and I’m not thinking, I’m reacting. However, I’ve been doing lots of personal and spiritual work over these last few years and here’s what I’ve learned. To stop our fear, we need to stop and consider that maybe we’ve been wrong. Maybe the world is not a dangerous place. Maybe it’s friendly. When we break the cycle of feeling fear, we can think of the consequences of our actions and hopefully avert tragedy.
Fear makes us think that we can control every dangerous situation we might face. That’s illogical. We can’t control anything outside ourselves! The only thing we can control are our own thoughts and feelings. But it seems there is a large part of the population that either doesn’t know that, or is unwilling to accept that fact.
Albert Einstein said, “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” We get to choose. Do you want to suffer, as the quote above by Yoda says? Or do you want to be showered with miracles every day? I choose to experience miracles.
I’m convinced that we feel so much fear because we’ve been told stories about the dangerous world around us. But that’s only half of the story. We hooked our logic, emotions, and free will to a huge lie. There are two sides to the human story. It all depends on where we place our attention. For those who are religious, do your scriptures encourage you to trust in God or not? Trusting God is to declare that we live in a friendly universe and that we have faith that we will receive God’s grace and blessings.
My first B.A. degree was in religious studies. I was there for the stories about humans interacting with God, or Higher Power if you prefer. And what I remember most were the stories of miracles. The miracles that Moses performed to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The miracle of Sarah conceiving the child Isaac, with Abraham, even though she was past child bearing age. All the miracles that Jesus performed. I believe that there are so many miracles in the scriptures of every single religion, but for some reason many of us choose to ignore those wonderful, heart warming examples. I could go on about all kinds of miracles that have happened in history too, but you get the idea of what I’m advocating. You have to look for miracles, not the danger.
I choose to live a life seeing the good in others and seeking out new and wonderful experiences every day. And because I chose to do that at a young age, I’ve had an amazing life so far.
What do you choose to experience? Is crushing fear something you want to live with every day?
I reach out to my family, students, podcast guests, and even my social media circle because I want to cultivate positive connections. I write this blog for the same reason. I hope to connect with all of you. Every creative thing I do is because I love hearing the stories of others and sharing them and my own with others. That’s where the miracles happen, in positive human connections.
I pray lots of miracles are happening for you at this time.
Blessings,
Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2023
Saving the World One Story at a Time
The world is in such chaos right now that sometimes we need to get a perspective on what’s happening. I designed this course on Ûdemy for people who are looking for a way to get a better understanding about what it means to be a human being. Stories are one great way to walk in the shoes of the characters, connect with them emotionally and learn from their mistakes. Then taking what you’ve learned and use it out in the real world. It’s learning in a fun way! If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, I hope to see you in class.
The Space Between Time
Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.
Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.
The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.
Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.
Story-Power on Patreon
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.
PodMatch
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
Sage Woman Chronicles 