Be Not Afraid

The Irish poet and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney texted that phrase in Latin (“Noli timere”) as his last words to his wife as he passed away in 2013.

In 1933, President Roosevelt said in his first inaugural address “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.

Good advice that has stood the test of time for all of us.

Love neutralizes fear. Emotions like fear and anger are basic animal survival instincts to physical threats. Recognized as messages, they can prompt action and social bonding. Fear demonstrates what you want to protect and anger means a boundary has been crossed. Emotions have energy, and we would do well to keep that energy positive.

We really only have control over our thoughts, which will motivate our words and actions. Motivation has peaks and valleys, but we can establish habits to return to the positivity of love when fear and anger are triggered by the behavior of others. When that happens, we need to pause.

Center yourself, breathe slowly and deeply, relax into the ever present energy of love, and laugh at the absurdity of negative behavior. Pride, greed, wrath, envy, and lust are historically seen as major motivations for destructive tendencies. Humility, generosity, kindness, and patience are associated with positive actions to counter them. Choose your preferred behavior to respond with in the future. Choose love as your antidote to negativity. Refuse to get sucked into an energy vortex that feeds it.

Forgiveness is an important component of bringing about positive change. It is the subject of a chapter in my book “The Art of Radical Self Love: The First Steps to Healing and Well-Being”. A brief summary is that although we cannot control others, we are the masters of our own destiny, not victims, and our true power lies in our next choice. Choose serenity, courage, and wisdom. And pray for others to choose for their highest and best good, and that of humankind.

I am a retired RN, a hospice volunteer, and near death experiencer. I can assure you that there’s more to come after this Earthly experience, and it’s all about unconditional love here and hereafter. We have sometimes difficult lessons to learn along the way, and we need to keep moving forward. Stay calm and carry on in love and light.

Be not afraid.

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