The Most Vicious Virus of All: FEAR
Posted by: Laurie Cameron in A Sign of the Times, Compassionate Observer, Ripped From the HeadlinesI’ve been talking to and hearing from lots of people in my network that are all saying the same thing: this is a tough time to be sensitive to other people’s energies.
When the news hit of the major plummet of the stock market, and then the world-wide ripples began trickling – or rather gushing – around the globe, I started feeling depressed. Then, as the days went by and the market dropped lower and lower, I felt even more fatigued and dragged out.
Even though my own financial situation has been adversely affected, too, that didn’t really feel like it explained the depths of my feelings.
Then it hit me – I was “channeling” the energy of everybody around me, and around the planet. This happened after Columbine, 9/11, the hurricanes and tsunamis, too. But I was far less aware of this acute empathetic response back then.
We are all – EVERY ONE OF US – sensitive to the energy around us, even if we can’t see it, touch it, or explain it. And each one of us is aware of it to different degrees.
Regardless of our ability to articulate it, we sense it. And it affects us. The less aware we are of what’s impacting our own energy, the lower our capacity to do anything positive about it.
It’s easy to just feel the collective fear and get sucked into it – the Chicken Little response of “OMIGOD, OMIGOD, OMIGOD!” When this “virus” spreads throughout the collective energy “pool” that we’re all swimming in, it’s real easy to catch it and fall ill, adding all our own fears to the epidemic.
The other option, which requires a lot of awareness and vigilance, is LOVE. My preferred form of LOVE at this time is a belief that we humans are extremely resilient. I have faith that we will – individually and collectively – learn something from this and come through it smarter and more evolved. Even just a little bit smarter and a little more evolved is still going in the right direction.
You might hear a bit of scoffing coming out of your mouth right now, which is also coming from fear. And that’s okay. I respect whatever choices you make in response to your own situation.
If you want a little immunity boost from the latest strain of the Fear Virus, though, I’d like to prescribe large doses of creativity and possibility thinking.
My personal response comes in the form of some questions (no surprise there!):
“How can I continue to do what I’m here to do and also take care of my own financial needs?”
“Even though I may have my own fears pop up now and then, how can I keep my vibration consistently high?”
“What are my options and what CAN I do about my own financial situation?”
“How can I stay focused on Love, Faith and Hope when Fear is blustering all around me, threatening to infect my Peace of Mind?”
“How can I maintain that Peace of Mind no matter what the economic situation is?”
“What can I do today to help others feel better and more confident about their lives and their options?”
I’m feeling better than I was a week ago – more in control of my own feelings and energy and life, and less at the unconscious mercy of other people’s fear-based choices.
Here’s the bottom line for me: I’d rather use this opportunity to get smarter and to create my own future with some Love and Joy, than let this latest Fear Virus create my future for me.
Tags: economic crisis, stock market
October 13th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Let’s no tforget that fear is a useful emotion. A little judicious fear on the part of the borrowers, lenders, and traders of strange paper would have prevented this melt down. I’m pretty old fashioned about acknowledging the adversity then sucking it up and recovering from it. I do think we do people a disservice by not recognizing that a situation is adverse before working at overcoming it.
Two of my most recent reads have been “The Adversity Quotient” and the “Adversity Quotient at Work”. Both of these books have great systems for coaching people in through and beyond adversity.
I think your “Chet did it!” is a great grabber line with a surpise meaning.
Regards,
Nik
October 13th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Thank you for your great insights, Nik! I agree that fear is a useful awareness tool - when we’re feeling fear, there’s something we need to take a closer look at, and most likely TAKE SOME ACTION on.
I think it’s when we mindlessly go along with the collective energy of fear that we step out of creative possibilities and just hang out wringing our hands.
And thank you for the book recommendations. There’s so much great information out there!
October 13th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I also have been feeling the collective fear of our nation and the world. Fear seems to be an emotion that most of us can easily pick up, and the trick is to be able to discern what is mine and what belongs to others. I find that reading an email, reading the paper, or reading a news post on the internet can triger my fear.
So I have been vigilant in deactating those emotions when they come in. This does not mean that I disengage from the global scene, but rather take steps each day to transform those fears into actions (as Nik sugested) and to do the things that bring me peace and well-being.
I find that I need time in naure each day to re-set myself and to connect to the vibration of the earth instead of the vibration of others around me. For me, that really does the trick.
Sandy
October 13th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Thank you for a great distinction between deactivating and transforming, and disengaging, Sandy. And thanks for the reminder to re-set our frequency to the Earth - much better than to the frequency of all the rest of us.
October 21st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Good read, thanks for the information, it was really informative.