Now I’ll speak to any group — I have no fear of public speaking.
I seldom wear stockings, I fear no run.
But I have new fears to replace these. I realize that in the manner of mindfulness meditation I can help myself resolve them. But sometimes they sneak up on me and blindside me. Then I have to talk myself down.
For example: I live in a geologically active part of the country, which is to say I live on top of an active fault line. There are few things you can prepare for less than an enormous earthquake. That frightens me if I let it, and the Haiti quake and Indoneisan tsunami have only stoked the fires.
How about you? What are the seeds of your nightmares?
other blog entries from »
0 like
Permalink: http://www.vibrantnation.com/our-blog-circle/one-heart-many-gardens/what-is-your-deepest-fear/
i use a combo of shea butter and aloe vera moisturizer. Works great. I use shea butter on my lips, around my eyes and nose (dry areas), My father swears by vasoline.
p.s. I dropped your name on Gina's post, Barb. ;)
My children being harmed, losing my dearest friend and members of my family.
Like LilTigg – loosing one of my children and/or grandchildren.
Also, being physically incapicated, as in not being mobile and unable to take care of myself (especially bodily functions), drowning is another biggie for me although I love swimming and being in the water; and being blind. These are the ones that frighten me the most.
Interesting thoughts SeaWriter. The fear you are talking about doesn’t seem like real deep fears. Deep fears to me are those that are crippling, that keep a person from succeeding, growing and truly enjoying everything in their life. So I agree with GILJ, I don’t have any deep fears. But I would be mad as hell if I had to go through a earthquake, and I would ache beyong comprehension if I lost someone close to me. If I grow older and become dependent upon someone else to take care of me, I don’t want that, but I don’t fear it. I think deep seated fears are really resistance . . . resistance to the unknown. My last nightmare was that I was trying to go somewhere (don’t know where) and I got a flat tire. The left, front tire. So I left the car and started running. Wow!! Someone could have a field day with this, huh?
Dynamomma and Cynthia, I agree with you and probably should have used the word phobia instead of fear. I didn’t mean this post as an existential inquiry, but more like what can get your worry meter running if you don’t seize control pronto?
Thanks for the clarifying notes. I like the way you think, my friends.
I agree with Suni – those are my fears also – but they are also life events that we may have little control over. So is that our fear – the things in life we cannot control – the unknown?
Before my husband passed away I couldn’t/wouldn’t speak in public. But after his death it no longer was an issue. I had faced and lived through one of my greatest fears – losing my husband. Hell speaking in public was a walk in the park after going through that.
When we fear something – it is these questions that we fear – what,where,when,how will I handle this situation. The answer – we don’t know till we live through it.
We fear what we don’t know.
Lynn
“When we fear something – it is these questions that we fear – what,where,when,how will I handle this situation. The answer – we don’t know till we live through it.
We fear what we don’t know.”
Mac:
Are you commenting on my post?
Lynn
Indeed I was Lynn. Sorry for the confusion, I should have left a comment. The simplicity of your comments, for me expressed deep down what we often truly fear.
So from reading these responses and thinking about it, I see that what we fear is what we have absolutely no control over. No one said, “I’m afraid of dogs or spiders,” instead we’re afraid of natural disasters and death. I guess if I had to list something, the fears that I have also fall in this category. I fear what I can’t control.
My greatest fear is losing my mental capacity when I grow older. Senility is such a terrible thing. I want to stay alert and active as I age.
I agree with Chick. Losing my mental awareness is a worry due to my DNA. I do my best to keep my mind sharp.
Fear of a long painful illness, having to depend on someone else, having something horrific happen to my children or grandchildren and last but not least becoming a “bag lady”
Losing my ability to take care of myself.
I have fears that my time will run out before I do the majority of what I set out to do. I fear my body will go before my mind.
my fear is not to be able to come back to my beautiful house in my country, a house in the fields, near a river, with my family.
well, my family has yearly vacations as i stated before. We have befriended a woman my age that works so hard, long hours and 2-3 jobs since she is a cook and a caterer. So when she tells me, “i do not have any money… i tell her – charge it! How many years do we have left? 15? 20? She immediately makes arrangements to come on our vacations. So my fear is not to be able to do the things i want because now i can, but when i retire? Will i have enough money to live? Healthcare will be there for me? Should i go live in an Adult community or keep my house? My fear is the unknown.
Fears can be all encompassing. Hopefully, with meditation, relaxation, living a life that is a fulfillment of our dreams we do not often think of those fears. Growing up in New York City, when it was rather dangerous in some neighbohoods, I developed a tough exterior and was never afraid to ride the subways alone (as a child) or walk in any neighborhood at night. Guess I was lucky, nothing bad happened to me throughout my adolesence. I cannot remember having any real fears growing up. I studied acting form many years and loved to be in front of an audience. If I ever wore stockings, I couldn’t care less if they ran, I just took them off!
But now as a business woman, an artist, my fears become financially oriented. I would have to say the one thing I fear most is losing everything, not having a home, or anyone who cares for me. Naturally, this is deeprooted but certainly not plausible as I have a loving husband, an adult son who is magnificent, a father and a brother. I guess the fear is buried deep, and I never go there. Reading this blog spurred me on to write, and see if others are equally plagued by something so far fetched.
FAITH is the opposite of FEAR
I have always had a fear of writing. At one point in my life it kept me from graduating college. God is challenging me to move through my fear of writing. I know my gift isn’t to become a writer but I am finding my voice with each key stroke I make. .
This is an extremely interesting thread and I’m glad I had the chance to read some answers. Fear of dying haunted my younger years, but that fear has weakened considerably due to the realization that there is far more to the universe, or perhaps endless universes, than we can possibly imagine. I go right along with the idea that we fear what we can’t control, and so I fear, in a kind of diffuse way, that one of my kids or grandkids will predecease me. However, all is well at present so why borrow trouble? I also have fears of becoming senile too early but this is akin to the above fears, none of which has happened. Along with you,Seawriter, I’m really afraid of earthquakes. I don’t think I’ve ever entered a mall, a huge store like Costco, or an overpass, etc., without this fear flitting through my mind. It doesn’t immobilize me but I think about it. I have intentions of moving to low income housing if I qualify, but will have to take an apt on the bottom floor because of back problems. This doesn’t thrill me but I’m fatalistic about it. Life isn’t perfect but it’s out of my control, so I have to deal with it. I won’t, I refuse, to let fear control my life. So I’m on the overpasses, underpasses, malls, big buildings, underground parking, whatever. Life on this planet is dangerous for everyone, but we go on, anyway. And so, like everyone else, I do, too.
Death has always been my deepest fear….I guess like someone said, fear of the unknown and being beyond our control. When I was younger and battling depression demons I feared dying without ever being happy or content. As I’ve gotten older and have the depression under control, I have experienced happiness and contentment. What a joy. Death still frightens me as I struggle with religion/God. I have felt broken or indadquate because I have not experienced what others have with a higher power. Like something is wrong with me. I honestly don’t know what else to do to open that door. I have taken Bible study classes, been in a Bible study couples group for about 15 years, seeked, prayed. What happens when you just don’t feel it? Maybe this should be a new thread.
I definately agree that this could be an interesting thread to start. In the meantime, may I suggest something that might help? In the course of your seeking, do not limit your search. You mentioned bible study classes and groups. My advice is to put the books away, put the lessons away, go outside and find a place in nature that touches you, and sit with it. Watch the clouds float by, watch the birds soar, listen to the wind in the trees, just sit with it all … and listen. Put you fears and your thoughts into words and send them out into the Universe and then just sit with it all. Feel the timelessness of the earth. Then let it all go. When you put it out there and then get on with your life, the Universe finds a way to answer you in ways you could never imagine. When you stop looking for answers, they appear.
Being attacked by a giant squid. I’ve been watching way too much Animal Planet lately…
I only had one fear in my life, and that was being alone. I am living that fear now. I am a christian, by the way.
Got a divorce after 31 years of abuse, so I did the one thing I feared.