We are all afraid. From our births, we are taught to be afraid. Be afraid of the hot fire; be afraid of that sharp object; be afraid of the dark. The problem is, too many of us allow ourselves to maintain in that detrimental state of mind. We don't grow out of it. As a result, we grow up in a completely defensive state of being. I know what your thinking however (if your on track), and that is that this is a simple result of biological evolution; and to that, I say, your right. Absolutely evolution brought us here, however the irony of the whole thing does not fail. The same defensive mechanism built into our minds from basic experimental actions that taught us the dangers of life, are still instilled in us! One thing we can all agree on is that evolution occurs at a very slow rate; it takes millions of years for the smallest thing to adapt and change. Humans are no exception. In such a fashion we got here, and in such a fashion we go on; one tiny, minuscule step at a time. But I digress. So basically, we have been conditioned to fear things. And why not? Fear got us here. It taught us what is safe and what isn't. The problem is, in today's society--in the first nations of this world, what do we need to be afraid of? All of our basic needs are met. We have food in abundance, to the point where our main problem is being overweight rather than starvation, as the case in third worlds. Check. Next is our shelter, which again is not a problem. And of course have plenty of fresh, clean, drinkable water. So even with these basic needs being met, we still hold back and live with as little ambition as possible. We lead unchallenged, uninspired, mundane lives. Safe lives. Cowardly lives. I say 'we', as in the collective majority of human beings. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, with undeniable confidence, that I do not belong to the aforementioned majority. The journey to this conclusion has been 25 years in the making. It wasn't all flowers and rainbows either, there was some serious soul searching. However, the end result (so far) is an abundance of raw, unfiltered confidence. I am not afraid of some artificial threat that my brain has created, as it's designed to do. I understand our psyche, as a specie. Our single objective, by natures design, is not to necessarily enjoy the quality of life, but rather to adhere to our most basic impulse; to stay alive. Thus, by design we are born to be risk-averse. Those who are born with an intellect wise enough to understand this enjoy lives the likes of which the average can only dream of. I now have goals and aspirations that are truly unhindered by the doubt cast upon oneself by society, as I've come to grips with the Truth...... I guess you'd like to know what that Truth really is, if you've not figured it out already. It all comes back down to fear. The Truth is that we are afraid of chasing our dreams; afraid of the uncertain, and definitely of the unknown. That is absolute, and it is universal. That is why it's a capital T. However, this fear is completely unfounded. Our primal days are behind us, and yes our primal fears of food, shelter, clothing are also behind us (in the first world at least), but it appears that we have replaced those fears with newer, more trivial ones; comprised as a whole (as there are many different branches of it), it is the fear of judgement; the juggernaut of all fears. It is unbelievable how much we constraint ourselves because of the possible reaction or judgement of others, be it logical or not. See it for yourself in your own personal life, and you'll be amazed at how rampant and conditional our behaviour is upon others' and their perceived reaction. See that's where the game throws a wrench into things; Perception is reality. However, one has to keep in mind that this saying maintains harmony if and only if it is observed within the Laws of Nature. We cannot change the Laws of Physics simply by changing our perception. Seriously; I've tried it (haha). However our perception of what others think, especially of ourselves, is often wrong. And in fact, how they actually perceive us, good or bad, is completely in our control! That is why I work on myself, and that is why I present the image that I do; because I want the same image reflected back to me.
To Be Continued... (Thoughts from 2012)
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