Archive for the ‘Fear’ Category

Weakness and Fear

“When people are least sure, they are often most dogmatic.”  — J.K. Galbraith
Weakness and fear make me defensive and dogmatic (adhering strictly to something).  I often find myself becoming strident and aggressive without any apparent reason.  I insult my acquaintances, hurt my friends, and even frighten the neighbor’s children.   In that moment, I may feel [...]

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Good-bye My Love

 

 
 

“I left because there was no room for me.  But you could tell me not to go.  Say it to me.  Tell me not to go.”  — Stephen Sondheim.  Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. 
To leave someone we love is to knowingly break a vital connection.  Even if we chose to leave, we [...]

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Embracing the New

“An old error is always more popular than a new truth.” — German Proverb
I find that I often feel uncomfortable with the new because it causes me to reach out and expand my vision.  This may be painful and I don’t like the pain that comes with change.
My life at times is cozy and gives [...]

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It Is, What It Is

“There is no greater enemy to those who would please than expectation.”   — Montaigne
A friend and I were recently rehashing some difficulties - ridiculous drama,  we recently experienced, courtesy of a mutual friend.  This friend I was talking with suffered from the drama much more than I, to the tune of about $3,500. In her most recent [...]

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Where I Start and Where I End

“It is an old an ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way.”  — Rollo May

Our boundaries are both inside and outside ourselves.  No one can set them for us; we can only set them.  For many of us, boundaries are often unfamiliar.  We may wonder, What are they?  [...]

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Acceptance of One’s Self to Reduce Fear and Anxiety

“Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is to make it easier for people to accept themselves; to like themselves.”  — Bonaro Overstreet
I was going about my life when suddenly; I became aware that I was feeling anxious, uncomfortable and insecure.  But what I feel underneath is afraid.  Even [...]

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Anxiety, Fear, Ignorance

 
 
“Nothing in life is to be feared.  It is only to be understood.” — Marie Curie
Fear usually comes from ignorance and it paralyzes usually only as long as we remain in the dark.  For many of us, fear is often free-floating anxiety that overtakes us inexplicably and pushes us toward unaccountable actions. 
Anxiety and fear have [...]

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There is Enough Time to Live One Day at a Time

“Now, let the weeping cease; let no one mourn again.  For the love of God will bring you peace.  There is no end.”   — Sophocles
When I look back on my life, I sometimes feel again the pain of how things used to be; the pain of a life once led.  But I know that my [...]

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Beware of What Lurks in the Shadows

As an addict and when I have been actively using, I grasp only at the shadow of things.  I neither relate to people as if they are real, nor do I communicate as a mature, loving person.  Instead, I have pursued phantoms and a few dragons, and in the end, have found only dissatisfaction.
Addictions diminish [...]

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Look Fear Right in its Face!

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You are able to say to yourself, “I lived through this horror.  I can take the next thing that comes along.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
One of the things I know I have gained through recovery and [...]

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