There is a lot of fear prowling the land, these days.
- Economic -- will I be destitute?
- Political -- now that my candidate has won/lost, what will happen?
- Physical -- will I or my loved ones be killed or injured?
It feels terrible to be driven by fear, to have even a low level anxiety as a constant companion. Many of us can feel paralyzed or hopeless in the face of national and world events.
This is a time when the wisdom of grandparents, the elders in this world, can be a great asset. To be of help, we need the strength of our own internal courage, our belief in the amazing untapped resources we can bring to bear when the going gets rough. In reality, we are the most stable resource we have in the world and we need to be in touch with the respect, trust and confidence we have in ourselves that we can meet whatever comes up in our lives.
This is what we can bring to the younger generations. We have lived through at least one generation or, for some of us, two or more, and have experienced some of the rhythms of the world. We’re down, no – we’re up, and now we’re somewhere in between. We know the fragility of life but we also know something about what skills are needed to survive – even to thrive in adversity.
In these challenging times, we need to be gentle and compassionate towards ourselves. It is not easy to be our best selves when we are facing our fears. We need to love the parts of ourselves that are afraid, not so certain of the future. When we do, that acceptance will lead to the discovery of the strength, will and courage we can use to move forward. Loving ourselves enables us to pass on that capacity to the next generation and the next after that.
How do we do this? One way is to notice the parts of ourselves that we tend to reject – the parts that do or say things we’d like to just forget about, the thoughts that leave us in fear. If we can believe that we are all doing the best we can, we might be curious about these parts of ourselves and wonder what they are afraid of – what drives them to the behavior other parts of ourselves don’t like. A gentle curiosity can invite an answer that arises within us, that leads to a greater understanding and appreciation for the wonderful selves that we are.
We are the ones who know with the wisdom of time that all things pass and the new arises; that we have no real idea today what tomorrow may bring in the way of resources and even what seem to be miracles. At the heart of this is developing the capacity to love it all, beginning with all of who we are individually. Fear fades in the face of such love.
