Be Gentle With Fear

BE GENTLE WITH FEAR

Be gentle with fear. It is a child of the unknown. It has travelled light years to find you.

Do not be afraid to feel it fully. It will not harm you. Let it come closer, let it penetrate you if it must.

Feel its aliveness, its pounding heart, its vibrations and tingles in the body. Until there is no division between 'self' and 'fear'. Until you cannot call it 'fear' at all. Until there is only life, raw and immediate, and nameless, and benevolent.

Fear is a breaking open into the unknown, a shattering of certainties. It is the forging of a new path into the vastness of night. It is the thrill of being awake.

Fear reminds you that you live on the edge of mystery. That you drink from the fountain of possibility. That your being is vast. That only the false can die.

Do not push your fear away, or label it 'negative' or 'unspiritual'. Do not pretend it is not there. Do not rush to delete it, or transform it, or even heal it. It is not an enemy, and not a mistake. It holds great intelligence and healing power. It is ancient and wise. Bow before it.

Let fear be fear, fully itself. But do not be afraid. Let the body shake, let the heart quake. And know that you are present. And opening, and opening.

Let fear, so misunderstood, come to rest in your vast heart. Let it walk with you. When it feels unwanted, hold it close.

Standing on the threshold, you take those first steps into the void.

You are shaking but you are so damn alive.

- Jeff Foster