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The Benefit of Fear

CarlCarl
edited November 2005 in Core Issues of Human Nature
lovin havin lil pablo around-goes with us most evrywhere, usually riding along inside one of our coats-everyone at work and the dojo is crazy about him-and hes about 3/4 housetrained now...sleeps like a log-anytime of the day, which is a must since i work graveyards...napped with me in my recliner y'day and fell off the side-klunk! LOL-also tends to barrel right into things when hes running-and has a teething issue-has chewed on my wallet and jacket but overall behaves...eats like a doberman, and hasnt figured out that when we take a walk outside,, its not just for the exercise...between the dog and the kid, i never have anything clean in my hand...but its worth it...

Comments

  • CarlCarl
    edited December 1969
    Fear and its offsprings, like insecurity and anxiety, often get a bum rap. The Taoist view rejects nothing - not even nothing. (sorry, I couldn't resist :) ). We know the benefits of fear by its other offsprings, like care and concern. A healthy degree of concern is what drives us to be watchful in each moment. Lazy unmindfulness only occurs when we don't care. And, we don't care when we feel no sense of [chref=72]awe[/chref] (the source of 'fear').

    If we ponder these two sides of fear, insecurity on one hand and concern on the other, we can see how important balance is. Too much and we become neurotic 'cowards' or, believe it or not, 'bullies' (fear drives the bully). Too little and we become lazy hedonistic bums where only the pleasures of the senses wake us up.

    Balance is key. How do we maintain balance? I suspect we first need to realize our imbalance. That in such and such a way, or time, we are out of balance. Then comes the even trickier part, we have to 'care' enough to lean the other way, but not 'care' too much and go to the other extreme.

    Now, if there is any such thing as free will, this is where it should show up. But then I would say, "No this is not free will, but rather just realizing deeply down what I really want in life, i.e., what I really care about". But remember, I must 'care' not to 'care' too much, eh? Tricky! Geez, it always comes back to this. Like it or not, one way or the other, our lives are driven by fear. :shock:

    :idea: Oh, speaking of fear, I've noticed two other things: Focused fear and need blind side me. Peripheral fear and need awaken me. Staying focused on the periphery helps balance life. Is this one way to describe mindfulness?
  • JoeJoe
    edited December 1969
    The "fear factor" - I couldn't resist - is something I pay a lot of attention to. Being human in a complicated civilization, there are plenty of opportunities to encounter very frustrating situations. When I find myself frustrated and angry, it's a cue that I'm afraid of something.

    It really helps de-fuse the intensity when I can connect the emotion to something I'm afraid of. Which to me always ties into some basic instinctual need, often the need to be accepted by the "tribe".

    A corrolation to this is that when I encounter someone else's anger, I'm more likely to respond with compassion and understanding, rather than returning anger, when I remember that some kind of basic fear underlies their anger, and most likely it's a fear that I've experienced plenty of times myself.
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