FEAR -- It’s Always Here!

by Carol Aubrey, www.freeandfearless.com

The fact is, we can’t get rid of fear. Why? Because the earth plane is
marvelously designed as the perfect classroom in fear. Our purpose in
signing up for this class is to understand fear and overcome fear in this
lifetime.

Take a look around at this classroom. Nowhere in the physical universe will
you encounter such a rich and diverse array of physical forms, both natural
and made by the human hand. Everywhere you look there is physical form:
the paper you are reading, your computer, the chair you are sitting on, the
clothes you are wearing, the food you eat, the house you live in, the trees
outside your door, the river that rushes by in the nearby woods, the birds in
the sky, the bugs under your feet. All is form on planet Earth.

One thing we know about form is that it does not last. Whether it is a piece of
chocolate, our physical bodies, the Sangre de Cristo mountains, or the Earth
planet itself, all physical form eventually dissolves, dies, disappears. That is
the nature of the physical universe, and this causes fear. The impermanence
of earthly life and the uncertainty of life cause survival fears in all humans.

Part of our challenge, then, is this: can we learn to accept the

impermanence of life? Can we learn to allow the uncertainty which is present
in every moment? As we journey through this dimension in a human body
that has a fairly short “shelf life”, can we overcome our individual fears?

A look at our past shows us how difficult this assignment has been and the
very slow progress we have made as a species in this area. Under the
pressure of fear we’ve made poor choices. We continue to spend our
energies trying to control and dominate our lives and each other, caught in
the illusion that this is the way out of having to deal with the earth lessons of
impermanence and uncertainty. We give up the direction our hearts would
take us for the illusion of security in a dimension that by its very nature is
insecure. Around and around like squirrels in a cage we go, century after
century, hedging the very thing we came here to learn. Our evolution
depends upon our willingness to do the inner work required to respond to
fear consciously. Overcoming fear is the journey.

The Human Animal

In the past we have reacted to fear by engaging in unreasonable and often

horrific, animalistic acts of aggression and domination. Why does our
intelligence, our compassion, our common sense get thrown out the window
when we are under severe pressure? Why, as both individuals and nations,
do we lose sight of our spiritual compass when in the presence of fear?

We can find part of the answer in our biology. We are indeed, the human
animal. The physical body that carries us through this earth journey shares
about 97% of its DNA with the chimpanzee. As a species, we are little more
than a glorified ape. Chimpanzees, as we know from Jane Goodall’s extensive
research, commit assassinations, mass murders and serial killings. Yet since
civilization began, we humans have been attempting to transcend our
biology and act in a more conscious and enlightened way, worthy of the
divine soul that inhabits these animal bodies. But when we are under
pressure, when we are in the grip of fear, the bridge we’ve been patiently
building between the divine and the animal quickly snaps. Under the
pressure of fear, we become the human animal, exhibiting greater violence
than any other species in the animal kingdom.

Fear has most of us by the throat. It is just a matter of degree and intensity
as to when we succumb to our DNA. For some, just a little bit of pressure on
the jugular causes them to throw reason, awareness, divine compassion, or
what they most love in life to the winds.

It is a grand experiment. Can what we call the human spirit transcend its
physical biology and act in accord with the divinity that we truly are? Can
we take our power back from fear and learn to respond to fear consciously?
The earth plane is the PhD course in overcoming fear. Our success in this
classroom and our ability to evolve this great experiment rests on our
willingness to become conscious, self-aware and connected to our divinity
when we are in the presence of fear.
It is the most difficult work we will ever do while on this earth plane. The first
step is to understand the nature of the classroom and to begin to understand
the ground rules. We can accept that fear is not going anywhere, and that we
have a biological tendency to act out like an ape when we feel fear. We can
remember that we are part of a great experiment. Then we can roll up our
sleeves and begin the process of becoming more self-aware; we can walk the
very narrow path that will allow us to stay focused on our spiritual mission to
overcome fear.