April 8

”Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.” Ambrose Redmoon

Fear is a natural instinct; its role is there to help us distinguish things that are good for our survival from those that threaten it. It’s an automated response and determination that happens before we have the chance to think and evaluate a situation without any coherent reasoning. Yet our brain has not evolved in this process are we are very rarely in situations of immediate danger when our fear reflex responds. We need to be able to adjust to the initial shock, the fight, flight or freeze response, and allow the moment to pass then determine the real level of danger and threat in what is happening around us. This is not to say the reflex does not have some merit, there are certainly occasions where our life may be in imminent danger. But our fear reflex in most day-to-day confrontations is merely a reflection of our ego and basic needs and desires being threatened. We often put more emphasis on our fear response than the situation demands.

Affirmation Today I will be aware of the times I feel afraid and give myself time to evaluate why I feel threatened. I will react with an appropriate response and not one based on fear.