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Fear and the Corona Virus

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Dear Friends,                                       Fear and the Corona Virus

In some self-reflection I have come to see that I have been unconsciously enveloped in a fear over the coronavirus pandemic. I feel paralyzed and hopeless. I noticed I feel I just have to turn the radio on to keep up on what is happening. Each time I hear more figures on how it is getting worse everywhere in the world, it fills my mind, the focus of much of what I think about. When I came to see this was happening, I noticed I wanted to just turn on the radio, and it was and is hard to turn it off. Just about everything on the radio was related to the virus. In reflecting I realized this subconscious fear permeated me. This fear was not healthy. It was creating anxiousness and anxiety, and anything but peace and contentment. This fear was what I needed to get rid of. From a Dr. Bruce Lipton I learned about fear. For example, fear goes in gear when we are attacked. All our blood goes to our arms and legs so we can fight or run to save ourselves. It has our complete attention to save ourselves. Nothing else matters. When this happens it is impossible to attend to anything else.

So how do I get rid of the fear that engulfs me? Well, instead of my subconscious attention and thinking focusing on the pandemic, I found it helped a lot to take a walk and give my full attention to the things I see: the yellow daffodils, the robins hunting worms, buds on the trees, and everything before my eyes. This gave me peace. I have come to appreciate and see their beauty in a new and deeper way, like I was seeing each for the first time. Praying has been helpful similarly. Many have other things that have been very helpful: we need to look for them in our lives and then practice them.
“The only thing we need to fear is fear itself” FDR said. It seems very applicable. At the same time it is important to remember the pandemic is a real problem and it has to be fixed. We still need to practice social distancing and wear a mask in grocery shopping etc.  Being aware of this fear in me has been very helpful.

Do pray for God to help each of us to do our part to bring the virus under control.

 Shalom, Jim

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