This morning, as I was sitting here waiting for my company to wake up, I began catching up on the reading of my favorite blogs. I went over to Kathy A. Johnson's blog, Catching Happiness. I really enjoyed her post titled The Upside of Fear, especially the part about using our pasts to encourage others in the present.
That got me thinking about the topic of fear. Good fear, bad fear, and unnecessary fear. What is fear exactly? Here are some definitions of fear I found on the Web:
- be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event; "I fear she might get aggressive"
- be afraid or scared of; be frightened of; "I fear the winters in Moscow"; "We should not fear the Communists!"
- be sorry; used to introduce an unpleasant statement; "I fear I won't make it to your wedding party"
- an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)
- be uneasy or apprehensive about; "I fear the results of the final exams"
- concern: an anxious feeling; "care had aged him"; "they hushed it up out of fear of public reaction"
- reverence: regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of; "Fear God as your father"; "We venerate genius"
- a feeling of profound respect for someone or something; "the fear of God"; "the Chinese reverence for the dead"; "the French treat food with gentle reverence"; "his respect for the law bordered on veneration"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Please click the above picture to enlarge for easier reading.
I think for me, there are two things I fear. The first are things that could happen to me that I have no control over. The second isn't really about fear so much as it is about having courage to do and to go where God is leading me.
The world has some pretty scary stuff going on in it right now, and I have been using my fear of what "might" happen to practically prepare for the future. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, so to speak ...without going overboard. Talk about a tough balancing act!
When I begin to panic, I buy more rice and beans, canning jars and toilet paper. For an example that is safe and won't get me in trouble with anybody: what would we do if the electromagnetic pulse thing happens and we all lose electricity? This is not something I obsess over, but I just wonder, what would we need to do to adapt?
For some reason, I stress out about the lack of cloth diapers in America. Do these young mothers and fathers have any back-ups to their boxes of disposables? Do they know that the Bend Walmart only has about 12 packages of cloth diapers on the shelves at any given time, and that the La Pine Bi-Mart doesn't even carry them? Would they think to tear up their old flannel sheets and hand sew hems on squares of fabric in order to provide protection for their babies' bottoms? I hope so. Or maybe they will figure out something even better.
Everything would be more labor intensive without electricity, but I would have hours and hours of spare time on my hands anyway, since there would be no more computers, internet, t.v., or cell phones. If you have a generator that wasn't destroyed, or a car a battery that still works, you could still watch movies. But you know what? I really can't do much about any of that, except to prepare for the worst. The worst might just be like prolonged tent camping, except that you are hopefully inside a house. Or it might be like the movie, The Postman. So, to help prepare for the worst, I look for dutch oven cookware and other things at garage sales. I wonder if I could secure a goat for milk, if I needed to.
The second part boils down to fear of rejection. Not really something to be afraid of after all, at least for me these days. I know who I am, and I am fortunate to have a great husband, family, and support system. So, that boils down to my work. Work is not always something that you are getting paid to do. Sometimes it is being creative ... blogging, photography, writing, art, music, crafts, whatever it may be. If somebody doesn't like my work, then they don't. Please don't let that kind fear sabotage your dreams, or keep you from trying new things or doing THE THING that you are meant to do.
I know that there are other kinds of fear that people are going through that I am not right now: abuse and safety concerns, illness of a child or spouse, hunger, worry of a loved one in combat, and many other true fears. Those are real and huge issues. I'm sending out to you faith, hope, love and prayers: for you to get you the help you need, and for others to help you through your pain and loss. God bless you, dear readers.
And...
Always remember:
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