Anxiety and Fear - Mindset
When the ‘religion of fear’ finds its way into the Christian church, those who regard themselves as the most vigilant guardians of the faith do violence to faith and smother it. Instead of confidence and freedom, fearfulness and apathy are found everywhere.” – Jurgen Moltmann – The Crucified God – pg. 19-20
Have you ever stopped to think about how much of our lives are driven by fear? How many decisions do you and I make based upon fear? Countless people have used fear to drive their agendas. Even now, I am listening to a book written by a former pastor/political hack (Jim Garlow) who is using fear to push his point of view. He is making an argument that all the world, specifically our country is collapsing because of societal change. His words and argument are entirely driven by fear.
Fear is an old tool used by politicians, pastors, media, and countless others to push people in a specific direction. While it has worked well for marketing, businesses, churches, and politicians to grow their impact, numbers and pocketbooks, I would argue that fear is bad practice for you and me to live by. While there are moments when fear can be a positive thing (fear helps us to understand that trying to pet a bear in the woods is not a good idea), it is not the best emotion to live by and anxiety is even worse for us.
Fear is a bad advisor. – Angela Merkel
In part, we have created people and a society that live by fear and suffer from anxiety. How often have you heard someone say of a small child…that child is fearless. Yet, as that same child grows older, instead of encouraging that same sense of adventure or acts of courage, the parent will continually tell the child to be careful. They constantly remind the child of how they could get hurt or harmed. Please know that I am not implying that we shouldn’t stop a kid from running into traffic or touching a hot stove, but spending our lives constantly encouraging the child to see the fearful side of life doesn’t help either. Anxiety is simply put, the fear of what might happen. We’ve created a society of anxiety and fear.
It’s normal to feel pain in your hands and feet, if you’re using your feet as feet and your hands as hands. And for a human being to feel stress is normal – If he’s living a normal human life. – Marcus Aurelius – Meditations pg. 76
Fear and anxiety are a normal part of life. For the college student, anxiety is the reminder that they need to study for the test. If they don’t study, they’ll fail. For the young couple, anxiety is the constant reminder that they need to be and act responsible with their spending or they won’t be able to pay their bills. Some level of anxiety is good. It can’t, nor should it, all be eliminated from our lives.
The reality is, we all face fears at times, but the challenge is learning to control those fears and anxieties. Believe it or not, there are tools and hacks that allow us to overcome our fears and anxieties. We don’t have to live in constant fear of the future, anxious about what might happen next. We can find the courage to face our fears and anxieties.
Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions-not outside. – Marcus Aurelius – Meditations – pg.121
When I heard the news that I had cancer, there were a few anxious moments. For the first few nights, I thought consistently about the financial picture of my cancer. Would Katie be ok if I didn’t make it? Was all our life insurance in order? Could we pay the bills? Was the house in working order? After all, I wouldn’t be able to do much while on chemo.
Those moments of anxiety and fear are normal, but I chose not to live in that anxiety or fear. I chose very purposefully and intentionally to discard those ideas and fears from my mind. I had reason to trust in all we had done to prepare for a moment like this, and a calm assurance that everything would be ok. My faith, family, finances, and future were in the best shape possible.
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” -Mark Twain
If fear is the enemy, then courage is our friend. Courage is not a gift or something you are born with. Courage is something we learn. Courage is a habit we initiate intentionally in our lives. In other words, we master the fear. The more we learn to face and conquer our fears, the easier it becomes.
Speaking publicly is a great example. I don’t know anyone who didn’t initially have a fear of speaking in public. Everyone starts with the fear of embarrassing themselves or looking foolish. They overcome the fear by facing it, by being courageous and choosing to speak, and honing their skills until they can do it well and don’t need to fear.
You see, fear and anxiety are in our mind. We must train our mind. We can choose courage. We can be psychologically/mentally courageous. Psychological courage is the act of facing or overcoming your own anxieties, insecurities and mental fears. It is simply choosing to face the fear. It’s a habit a discipline.
Don’t live in fear and anxiety.
Choose the BEST life!