Dear Friend,
Everyday, all around me, in faces, voices, and even in print, I see fear. People, many people, are afraid. They fear the apparent chaos of change in the world. They fear terrorist attack, or cancer, or “Frankenfood”, or a thousand other things. In their own life, they fear making changes they know that they should make. They imagine a thousand deaths in a thousand different ways.
Some of these fears are reasonable. With the world financial markets recently wiping out 40% of the world’s wealth in an instant, older folks on fixed incomes quite possibly face disaster. These are not lazy people. These are people who followed the rules all of their life. They saved and scrimped for decades. They even sacrificed their health, and probably a lot of happiness as well, to prepare for an old age of comfort and at least a little repose. To see all of that wiped out in an instant implies the possibility that there is nowhere to hide. And that the rules no longer apply. Some folks might even give up on following the rules altogether, and cheat, or steal. It’s a dangerous time to be alive, in some ways.
Some folks blame the politicians. This is probably a good place to start. Unfortunately, they generally blame the “other guy’s” politicians. They still think that they can win at the game of politics, a zero-sum game, if their side wins. Just observe the fear in the words of so many political and news junkies. You can feel the hate and the corrosive energy from some of these poor folks.
Most times are dangerous times to be alive. Drunk driving can kill any one of us tomorrow. Or slipping in the shower. And these causes are much more likely to hurt us than most of the bug-a-boos that we hear about on the nightly news. But they aren’t sexy. They don’t sell soap or beer. So on TV we hear about more exotic threats to our existence.
I am an optimist about our future. In fact, I am incredibly excited. And I am not in denial. I believe that a simple review of the forces that are forming our future requires such excitement. We are on the verge of a fantastic world where most of the worries that we carry today will become meaningless.
If you want to join me in this attitude, you need start with your own fear. You have it. You carry it like a disease. And it eats into your character like an acid that destroys your ability to live your life the way you were meant to live it.
Decide to reject fear. Just live. Do what you must do, and do not fear the consequences. Respect your fellow creatures. Treat them with kindness and compassion at all times. But do not temper your life out of fear of upsetting others. Do not hold back on living because of threats known and unknown. Use common sense. Avoid unnecessary risk. Then live your life, your way. This is the only way that anyone can truly live and be happy.
I wish you a fearless life. And a fulfilled one.
All the best,
Hugh
