It’s almost time for Halloween (or whatever a similar holiday is called in your part of the world).

Here in the United States lawns are sporting 7-foot-tall goblins and ghouls. Horror movies are playing on an endless loop on the TV. And the Food Network, which usually rewards creations for their beauty, is now featuring gruesome-looking goodies, the gorier the better.

It seems many people love to be scared. For them it’s fun.

The reason people think it’s fun to be scared this way probably has deep roots. Being scared in a controlled situation is probably part of it.

But I’ll tell you what’s not fun.

It’s the frightening thoughts that occupy our minds throughout our days, every day, and not just on Halloween.

It’s being plagued by fearful images of what’s going to happen in the future. Of what’s going to happen to us!

Or being afraid of other people and being intimidated by them.

Or being afraid of being seen through and revealed as not being the kind of person we pretend to be.

All of this is the true stuff of nightmares leading to anxiety, depression, and withdrawal from life. And we make it worse when we spew all that inner agony onto other people.

But the great sages tell us this type of psychological fear, and the way we project it onto the world so that we create the scary images we suffer from, is not natural or necessary. Here’s a sampling of their wisdom:

God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. — The New Testament

The ruling faculty does not disturb itself, I mean, it does not frighten itself or cause itself pain… The guiding principle in itself wants nothing, unless it makes a want for itself, and therefore it is free. — Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180)

We are troubled only by the fears which we, and not nature, give ourselves. — Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662)

A humble man is not afraid of failure. In fact he is not afraid of anything, even of himself, since perfect humility implies perfect confidence in the power of God, before Whom no other power has any meaning and for Whom there is no such thing as an obstacle. — Thomas Merton (1915 – 1968)

What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it. — Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895 – 1986)

Do not ask for relief from anxiety, but ask for insight into it, for insight is true and lasting relief. — Vernon Howard (1917 – 1992)

And finally, here’s one from OneJourney founder, Guy Finley:

Once you realize that you can’t separate some imagined fear from the level of self that believes in what it has imagined, you are near the end of your fears. — Guy Finley (1949)

It may be fun to “play” with fear at Halloween, but we don’t have to live with fear as our constant companion. With knowledge we can begin to let go of the scary images our own minds play before us.

Bright New Actions that Lead to the Fearless Life

Guy Finley has written and spoken about how to find a fearless life for over 40 years.

To help you gain new understanding of your fear and how to loosen its grip on your life, Guy is providing an excerpt from his powerful book, The Essential Laws of Fearless Living.

Click here to read the excerpt >>

Physical fear is natural when we’re in real danger. But the fears and anxieties that haunt us throughout our days are not natural, and they take the sweetness out of life. Begin to discover the truth about the frightening thoughts that occupy your mind and watch as they lose their power over you.

Best wishes,

Dr. Ellen Dickstein
The OneJourney Project

PS: You are invited to attend Guy Finley’s FREE online talks on these powerful and life-changing ideas. He speaks weekly at nonprofit Life of Learning Foundation, and all his talks are livestreamed and archived! For details visit guyfinley.org/freeclass

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