I was asked to prepare an Emotional/Spiritual growth exercise for a group; I choose the topic of fear:
“The Cave We Fear to Enter holds the Treasure We Seek.” – Joseph Campbell
We are all in or approaching the final stages of our lives; well past the mid-point, approaching the peak of the pyramid.
What remains before us?
What is left to create?
What shall we do with what remains?
What have we yet to learn?
What challenges (if any) do we wish to undertake?
I’ve less than 3 months to go until the 64th anniversary of my arrival on planet Earth. Somehow I thought I’d be wiser, calmer, more serene by this point. Oh, I’ve gained wisdom of a sort but I’m so, so aware of all that remains to be known. Of late I’ve been pondering upon my fears, fears I’ve modified, corralled in some cases, contained in others, modified yet more but to be brutally honest, some still lurk. At this stage in life, many of our fears may be subtle, our methods of managing sophisticated, our rationales (rational lies?) well-rehearsed and accepted. Nonetheless, if we become still long enough and listen quietly deep enough, hidden inner truths float upward.
I’d like us each to think about the dark spaces we may still have within us, that may still inhibit our full greatness/development. How we’ve coped, the cost of that coping, the tradeoffs, the comfort level with the outcome.
– What inadequacies have you struggled with but few know of?
– What Caves have you feared to enter, what Treasure have you forsaken?
– How have you compensated for your fears?
– If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your personality/approach to life?
– What keeps you from having/using that magic wand?
– What fears have you conquered? (Feel the Fear, Do it Anyway/Do the thing you Fear and the Death of Fear is Certain)
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
– Bene Gesserit rite from Dune by Frank Herbert
As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier