It’s everywhere. On the news, in ads, and out of your very own mouth. Yes, you. Me. All of us. Now there’s this book (just one more in a sea of many...) coming out that’s going to tell us that the fear of death is what’s driving all of us in everything we do. No, I haven’t read it--few have; it’s just been picked up by Random House for North American world rights. Wunnerful. According to the Publishers Weekly column, the authors will draw on more than 350 experiments AND demonstrate how strong said fear is. In all fairness, the authors will also give us new ways to “reckon with our own mortality.” Good for them.
However.
There’s always SOMEONE angling some platform to say how Breathing Tells What Kind of Person You Are! How You Eat Your Peas Speaks VOLUMES About Your Sex Life! Do You Use The Toilet? Whoa, That Tells Us SO MUCH About Your Personality--And Who’s Right For YOU!
I guess someone’s gotta make a buck. Heck, I’m tryin...but I have a couple issues with this (not to mention the continued spreading of said fear), and one is the whole Grand Platform thing about how every little action tells so much about yourself--of frigging course it does! Let me just condense it for everyone:
How you live your life tells so much about...HOW YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE.
There’s the Big Secret. Hmm, maybe I should write a book about that....
So, where does “fear” come in?
It’s part of being Human (though it shouldn’t HAVE to be). Just like breathing, using the toilet, or eating peas. It’s part of who and what we are, but it does not have to DEFINE who and what we are. And picking on fear is so limiting (and I’m just not picking on this yet-to-be-released book, which I haven’t read). Part of my thought on this is that I think people used to be so much tougher back in the “Olden Days,” but as we’ve become so damned busy, so starved for time, “down” and otherwise (by the way, this is ALL of our OWN making...), we’re being fed lines of (fill in the noun) that we’re unconsciously assimilating. Some of it might appear truthful on the face of things, but, really, what IS reality? I think reality has become, plain and simply--marketing. Keep the population scared, and you have control of them. Their moolah (key word “MOOOOOO...”). Market fear, and you’ll have people snapping up the latest gadgets and gimmicks galore, and guess who makes out.
The solution is to think for yourself. Look inward (some feel “outward,” but hey, just work with me on this one), and ask yourself...what are you really afraid of? Why? How can I mitigate this, grow as an individual, get past my perceived limits? If you need a book to tell you this, fine, but stop becoming so dependant on OTHERS and use that inborn responsibility you were given at birth and put it to some good use. It’s atrophied. Needs some exercise. Stop watching newscasts or reading papers that talk about nothing but gloom and doom (this is NOT the same as sticking your head in the sand; dwell on that for your own answers). Stop using trite phrases that perpetuate the fear culture. Stop becoming a lemming and take positive action.
STOP THINKING THOUGHTS THAT PERPETUATE FEAR!
STOP ACTING LIKE A PERPETUAL VICTIM!
Sure there are some really nasty events going on in the world--there always have been. But it doesn’t DEFINE our world, as much as some would like us to believe. If it did, and evil really was the defining characteristic of Humanity, we wouldn’t have anything near the state of life we do now--globally. I also believe there are “heavily metaphysical reasons” for why things are the way they are, but either way, things can CHANGE. It won’t happen overnight, but take baby steps here and there, and see how much more comfortable and confident you become...see if your life changes...and for the better. I bet it will (and as individuals, we create our “whole”)...at the very least, I should say we’d all see quite a bit more contentedness on all your smiling faces.
