We’re steadily moving out into the aquamarine waters that flow before us on our journey. Our ship has a spot light aboard that will help penetrate the fog and illuminate the depths of our fears when we need it We’re prepared because we have a treasure map of sorts — a guide that we can use during the minor rumbles and the major earthquakes that are an inevitable part of living on earth. Remember, fear is a real or imagined belief of the eminent loss of something, or something we want and can’t have. Here’s what’s going on with fear: Fear of harm to our physical well being and fear of harm to our emotional /mental well being which is directly linked to the vitality of our spiritual well being and the freedom to be authentic individuals Shining the spot light on two main categories of fear that will guide us through the depths: Original Fear Original fear is our built-in instinctual survival response known as the “fight or flight” response. This fear response kicks in the adrenaline that enables us to act against true impending personal harm or death. This is a present and real experience — either brief or prolonged. A brief original fear experience may be any physical trauma such as a heart attack, a bad fall, emotional/physical attack, a car accident, an earthquake, etc. When these situations occur, a healthy response would be to get away or run/call for help or to fight back to save ourselves. We may even play dead so an attacker will go away. The idea is to end the situation and remove ourselves from it, period. A prolonged original fear experience may be a chronic debilitating disease, war exposure, ongoing emotional/mental/physical stress/abuse, etc. Evolved Fear Evolved fear is information gained from a past original fear experience and/or information passed down by someone or something that creates beliefs, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors, some which become automatic or unconscious. It is a future oriented fear. It is not totally manifesting to us in the present. Evolved fear creates a “what if” situation. There are two subcategories of evolved fear: Positive Evolved Fear: Positively using our past experience and/or knowledge to prepare for, overcome, and save ourselves from life’s situations, natural earth occurrences, disease — getting out of the way of a tornado or moving to high ground from a flood — losing obese weight to eliminate diabetes and heart disease, etc. Negative Evolved Fear: Negatively created reality that keeps us hidden where we can’t live peacefully in the present time and space. These are the fears we create through mind talk, replaying past experiences and creating debilitating “what if” future scenarios based on fear that stems from feeling we have no control. We may lack self-confidence, lack of trust and hope, lost the truth that goodness that resides within ourselves and the world. It usually manifests in phobias, frequent anxiety/worry, addictions, panic attacks, frequent anger, or any negative behaviors and feelings that can usually be traced back to emotional/mental and/or physical traumas we experienced and coping mechanisms we created in our lives, which we didn’t overcome. Instead, they grew and debilitated us in some way. Let’s look at an example: Car accident Original fear: You and your car were injured at a busy intersection by a driver running a red light Positive evolved fear: You have knowledge that the intersection is a busy one, and you’ll drive with extra caution. You’ll take a moment to scan the intersection before you step on the gas at a green light. Or you might decide to take another route close by during rush hour traffic that’s not out of your way. You learn from the experience and use it to your advantage. Faced the fear and overcame it. Negative evolved fear: Quit driving – has someone else drive you — will not get into a car. Uh- oh..! Has not faced the fear, but instead is expanding the accident into a life-altering illusion that’s killing confidence, harmony, and freedom. Disabling behavior. You have a map to help guide you. The place to begin is with a fear you know you have or anxiety/worry behavior you’ve been operating on for a long time, and see if you can trace it back to a beginning. Ask yourself questions! When did I begin feeling this way? When did I begin believing this about myself? What were the circumstances in my life? What was my environment? Who were the people that influenced me? Is this true or false? Shine that light into those deeper waters. Treat this as your personal detective mystery case and become your own Sherlock Holmes. Ask for help from loving, supportive people who can assist you if you want it. A woman who is very dear to my heart phoned last weekend. Everything was really good. She loves her work, running her own business. She’s extremely busy — lots of stress. Her son and longtime companion were all doing fine, but she just can’t relax. She constantly thinks about what needs to get done next. She recognizes that she has anxiety, and acknowledges operating much of her life on anxiety (which is worry=fear), so she recently started taking an anti-depressant, and feels calmer already. I was puzzled. Is it that she doesn’t feel anxious about being anxious anymore? I asked myself, “If everything is so good, then what’s wrong?” I’m not judging. Bless her journey. We are the heroes and heroines on a voyage toward wholeness. That’s a part of what we’re here to do. We choose and chart a path of discovery we all must take in degrees throughout our lives to grow, and achieve balance and harmony. Achieving that is the equivalent to the spiritual Holy Grail Cup and the Philosopher’s Stone. We have much to unlearn and much more to learn. Raise the Grail Cup to us all, and for heaven’s sake, don’t forget to dance! Next month: Taking Action In Sacred Space Affirmation for this month: Thoughts Today, I quietly observe my internal voice that creates feelings, attitudes, and ideas. Being consciously aware of where I direct my mind is to be conscious of the potential reality I am creating now. Live in beauty and be well – Triza Schultz

To read more blogs by Triza or for more information, please visit http://womanofthewind.blogspot.com/ Copyright © 2010 — All rights reserved. Permission grantedby author to copy this article init’s entirety.