Fear came to town this week in a very obvious way! A five kilometre steel fence in the Sydney CBD a stark reminder that when fear is the pervasive paradigm, there are few choices but to manage, protect and defend. A false sense of security if ever there was one!
The jangly energy in this city is palpable. People are feeling frustrated, angry, annoyed, fed-up and more than a little anxious. Grid-locked traffic and “exclusion” zones all contribute to the mounting tension. Driving around today, I was struck by how many police are out and about – in cars, on roadways, on bridges, atop buildings, on the harbour and in the air - their intention to “guard” and “protect” – to help us all feel safe. Interestingly (and more to the point, obviously!) it’s not working. The very things that have been put in place in the name of “security” are having the opposite effect. People are feeling more and more stressed as our fear manifests in angry outbursts, frustration on the roads and in our cars, impatience with people and things that are not going how we think they should and making ourselves sick.
So what do we do?
Well, the first thing to become aware of is that we cannot resolve the paradigm of fear from within a paradigm of fear! Putting up more and more barriers, pushing and resisting and focusing on “trying to change” the external reality will never deliver lasting peace. What’s needed is a change of context, a paradigm shift from fear to love.
If you really want to live in peace, you need to be willing to go deep within yourself and allow the essential love that is you to lead the way. To remember who you really are and to consciously (mindfully) choose to be who you are moment by moment, irrespective of whatever is occurring outside of you. This does not mean denying or ignoring your external world and it does mean to centre yourself in love (who you really are) while making choices about how to respond.
When fear comes to town choose greet it with love and watch what happens.
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"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."
Marianne Williamson
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