Distractions

Distractions are things that prevents us from giving full attention to something else. Distractions come in endless forms in the modern age. T.V., Social Media, Food, Drugs & Alcohol, Politics, Etc. Etc. These are just a few examples of physical distractions. There are distractions that are more personal & harder to identify. These come in the form of experience & reaction, or, Cause & Effect. Everyone of us has a past, & we all have reacted in some way to that past. Many of us carry our negative experiences from our childhood & adolescent years after the experience has passed. Some never let these things go & they end up living their entire existence based around how they reacted to negative experience.

20th century philosopher, Alan Watts, says there are 2 forms of consciousness. He describes them as the ‘Headlight’ Consciousness & the ‘Spotlight’ Consciousness. ‘Headlight’ Consciousness is the here & now. It is the consciousness used in daily tasks & functions. Getting out of bed, making,  going to work, reading these words, Etc Etc. ‘Spotlight’ Consciousness are your thoughts, feelings & Intuition. It is what allows us to multi task. It is responsible for our ability to, say, drive a car while having a conversation with the passenger simultaneously, without worrying about crashing the car. Without both consciousness working together, you would have to focus everything you had on the task at hand.

What is Fear?

Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain. Or, a threat or a feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of something or the safety and well-being of someone.

There are 2 types of fear, Justifiable & unjustifiable. These 2 types are inherently the same, other than one key difference. Justifiable fears are fears that have come to be through experience. Example: “Jamie is afraid of bees because of allergies. ” or, “Elizabeth is afraid of crossing the street because she got hit by a car as a child.” Both of these examples clearly show a Cause and Effect Relationship between the people and their fears.

Unjust fears stem from a more unknown origin. Some theorize that unjust fear are collected through the experience of life & reincarnation. These fears are based on perception and are often irrational. Example: “Shane is afraid of heights, even though she has never been stuck up high or fallen from height.” Or, “Jennifer is afraid of going out in public because of what she sees on television.” Neither of these examples have any actual footing in their respective realities other than the fact that they think something bad will happen if they are put in those situation, Causing them to unnecessarily miss out on many aspects of life.

Relation to Self

Fear can also be broken down into specific emotions & feelings associated with mental illness. The two most common words we hear used when speaking of mental illness are “Anxiety” & “Depression.” Our definition of these terms are simple. Anxiety is the fear of the future, either immanent or distant. Depression is a fear of the past. These two specific fears can Piggy back on each other, creating a cycle or loop.

Example: “Johns parents were not great influences of his young life. As an adult, he suffers from depression that stems back to these years. When thinking about, say, a new relationship; John experiences anxiety about the thought of letting someone in close to him. He experiences this anxiety because of the depression he holds for his past loved ones. ” As you can see, John is trapped inside of a cycle that he created for himself.  We could attempt to justify John being afraid of loving connection, only if we accept that he could not have forgiven his parents for not being what he needed. Suddenly, Johns fears become unjust when one realizes that he could have forgiven his parents at any moment in time leading up to the new relationship.

Continue to the next topic ‘Exercises to Fight Fear’