Blogpost 2: Joy versus Fear

                 Are you sometimes frozen with a feeling of fear, a feeling you attach to “fear”, sometimes you may not even know what the fear is about but you certainly know the feeling. Something I often talk about with my sister is turning a feeling of fear into a feeling of joy simply by changing the name of the feeling. In my mind, that feeling of fear we get – the tension in the pit of the stomach, the taught muscles across the shoulders, that lump in the throat is the same feeling as joy, with a different name attached.

           Our fear, our anxiety, is about a sense that we lack control or we have lost or will lose control. Guess what? You can't control anything. We'd like to think we can, but we can't. We can only do what we are doing in the moment. And joy comes from squeezing that moment for all it's worth.

          
      Things may seem normal but it is enriched with so much meaning and connectedness. Joy is not laughing it is sometimes crying and feeling pain, but knowing that all that is good too. Fear, on the other hand, creates boundaries and impedes all connections but the connection with fear itself. Because fear breaks off our connection with our higher self, when we allow fear into our soul, we allow our double to take over, and we enter a reactive mode of behavior based on old habits.

           Joy comes not by the external events but by an internal transformation, a recognition of harmony, a sense of destiny that radiates like a ripple affecting the mundane events of your llife and others into the extraordinary while Fear also results in physical and chemical responses. Our lowest brain system, the reptilian brain, is operant in fear situations and fight-or-flight reactions. Blood rushes to the heart from the limbs, which feel cold and heavy. We tend to hold our breath. To speed up our reactions, our bodies produce extra cortisol, the continuous presence of which in the bloodstream can lead to serious health problem.

            I read an article entitled "Joy versus Fear" by Brian Germain. According to this article follow the thoughts and actions suggested by our fear, or learn what the fear is cautioning us about and then move on to enjoying the process. If we love what we are doing, there is no room for fear. If, on the other hand, we are fixated on the negative possibilities, our fear drives our minds toward the elaboration of those possibilities that we do not want to see happen, and we fuel the negativity. The choice about which reality we live in is entirely up to us. All we need to do is choose which side of the equation we give our attention to.

          I would like to say that we live in two minds fear and joy. Mostly, we live in fear. That fear is manifested as our everyday anxieties where we find ourselves living in the regret of the past, or grasping at the future while Joy is manifested in presence, that point at which we shed the past, let go of the future and are just there, where we are, in that moment.

      I read another article which is “Living in Fear versus Living in Joy” by Michael J. Formica. According to this article, Fear is manifested as our everyday anxieties where we find ourselves living in the regret of the past, or grasping at the future on the other hand Joy is manifested in presence, that point at which we shed the past, let go of the future and are just there, where we are, in that moment.

   As I know, Joy is waking up every morning and doing what I love. It is the most terrifying human experience. It is collected over time, fuels resilience, ensuring we'll have reservoirs of emotional strength when hard things do happen. It warms a person's hear on the other hand fear is more of an illusion than a reality, the probability of gaining control over it or other debilitating emotions is very high. We must develop and teach ourselves joy, much like the process of getting physically fit. 

          I believe joy is a spiritual practice we have to work at. For me, that means appreciating everyday moments:  outing with my friends, shopping with my family and so on. It means not living in fear of what I could lose, but softening into the moments I have. Remember, what you experience is all about what you are attaching thought to feeling about. If you are in fear, you will attract fearful thoughts and in so doing, attract all you do not want. Feel the feeling and name it joy – excitement – happiness – anything that lifts you up and let it lift you up. Enjoy and be all you want to be.