SOCIAL DISTANCE FROM FEAR

I am generally not a super fan of the mainstream news media. However, especially during this time, I have found it incredibly important to keep up with many different news sources to stay informed and balanced. I’ve noticed how often I see people sticking with just one source of news, and how that approach has the ability to sway opinions, limit the facts, and divide our nation. For me, I have a hard time reading the news because I tend to get wrapped up in the negative, even if I don’t realize it. After watching the news in the morning, I can see an almost instant shift in my demeanor. Over time of watching the news consistently, I notice that I develop a tendency to look at the world through fear-based goggles. My mom always told me growing up to stop watching trash TV, because she would say “TRASH IN, TRASH OUT.” She was suggesting that if I let the negative inside, that is what would naturally flow out of me. I get it now, Mom! 

I am not saying all news is trash. In fact, I think watching it is healthy, as long as you can stay on the outside of the whirlpool and not get sucked in. What I AM saying, and I think we can all agree, is that mainstream media, no matter the source, tends to amplify the fear of it all. They want to engage people in a way that they feel they need to keep watching… keep clicking… until we become dependent on the information in regards to our survival, safety, and well-being. In any circumstance when fear is amplified, more fear is created. For instance, if I get spun up on the fear, and I take that energy to my partner or my friend, that fear spreads to them, and so forth and so on.. and before you know it, the fear has spread even more so than the coronavirus itself! There is a difference between watching the news from a fear based perspective, rather than watching it from a place of wisdom and discernment to gather necessary facts to move forward. If you can separate the two, you’re GOLDEN. 

IT’S TIME FOR US TO SOCIAL DISTANCE FROM FEAR.

We have been asked to stay at home to stop the spread of Covid-19. Now, what can we do to slow the spread of FEAR? 

Stop reacting to it. 

We have a choice in the matter. If the job of fear is to create more fear, then that means that if we don’t give it power, it won’t affect us anymore. There is a space that we can all claim that allows us to observe the fear right in front of our face, but have the power within us to not touch it. We can even choose to be compassionate towards it. For instance, my dad broke his hip right at the start of this pandemic. He had to go into a long-term care facility to partake in rehab, and has been on lockdown in this facility for sometime now. To be honest with you, I have been TERRIFIED. I have seen on the news the number of nursing homes that have contracted the virus, and I went down a crazy rabbit hole of fear. As I stepped back in my mind and became the observer within myself, I acknowledged the fear I was experiencing. I was able to look at the fear with compassion and say, “the reason I feel fear is because of how much I love my dad.” So, in that moment, instead of jumping to quick reactions and decisions based in FEAR and UNCERTAINTY, I was able to gather myself and come to the right decision for my dad based in LOVE and CLARITY. 

My friends, we are FREE if we choose to be. Please don’t let fear hold you in a cell, no matter how scary it all is. Does this mean we should all say “SCREW THIS STAY AT HOME ORDER” and irresponsibly run around as we so please? No. Not at all. It means, to switch your pair of goggles from the fear-based pair to wisdom and discerning pair…. they look better on you anyway! ;) 

You might say, “well how am I suppose to not let this pandemic scare me?” 

I would answer that by saying, first of all, it’s ok to be scared. Uncertainty is scary, no matter what. Feel that. 

Secondly, I would encourage you to not let it consume you… You don’t have to stay there. Allow yourself to figure out how you can choose a different space for yourself. For me, I have been acknowleging a global shift. I truly believe that we are being called to a new way of being, but I don’t think that shift is going to come easy. It’s that “it’s going to get worse before it gets better” mentality. I am choosing to look at the whole picture rather than just an event. This is not a mindset that I am choosing to just make myself feel better. This is a mindset that I am choosing to trust the greater power and plan that KNOWS better… That knows the outcome.. and knows that it’s GOOD.

This is a spiritual war of the mind and spirit as much as it is a physical one of the body and population. Choosing to be uplifted, not only brings the mind peace, but it also strengthens the immune system. When we allow ourself to succumb to the stress, worry, and fear, it has a direct affect on our heart and overall health, which makes us even more susceptible to disease. Again, I am not suggesting to live in denial, but in wisdom and discernment.  Learning to control our mind and emotions is our mighty weapon. 

And we are more than conquerors. 

Romans 8:37