How often does fear creep into your thoughts?  Think about this for a minute. Really think about it. Whatever your personal belief about life and death, a higher power or the existence of an afterlife, the indisputable fact is, we are all headed for an eternal home away from our earthly one.

As for me, I know there will come a day when I will be reunited with loved ones in “Heaven,” whatever form that may take. My faith assures me of that and my faith reminds me that the details are not important. I find great comfort in that.

Fear is so closely related to faith, but it is also related to our concept of the physical world and the linear fashion with which we mark time. In our logical, human minds we have labeled and categorized time into segments that are easily marked and kept track of. Such marking of time does not ensure our control of it, however.  Any more than our worrying about things and giving into fears enable us to control fate.

Fear is a constant theme in our life. I could write pages on this aspect alone, particularly how our nation is going down the wrong road in terms of “making us safe,” which, of course, is a complete illusion. In an effort to prevent attacks on our airlines, TSA has managed to nearly completely steal our freedom from us. Big Brother continues to do the same in our everyday lives and we allow it to happen so that we can be “safe.” Unfortunately, there is a very fine line between security and freedom. Given the choice, i will choose freedom every time.

How? By not giving in to the negative, destructive, immobilizing and irrational feeling of fear as often as possible. Why? Because every time I react in fear, I am blocking blessings.

For the purposes of this blog, I am not talking about being reckless with my life or casting “caution to the wind.” I am talking about recognizing irrational fear and choosing NOT TO RESPOND to it.  Hence, to be afraid, NOT! Even the use of the word irrational leaves much open to interpretation as we each have a very different view of what is real, what is impending, what is a serious threat vs. what is hype, alarmism or just not true.

I mentioned fear the week after I attended the Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Fear could have crept into my thoughts as I danced with literally tens of thousands of strangers on an open field. Wow! That would have ruined the whole day.  Since that time I have driven on “dangerous” freeways, flown to and from Chicago, walked the streets late at night and HORRORS! touched  many dirty, infected surfaces. Fear could easily have kept me from doing any of those things.

“How can I go to New Orleans for Jazz Fest?” The weather might be terrible. I might catch who knows what from who knows who. “How can I fly in an airplane in this uncertain age?” “How can I travel to a strange city with my two daughters and infant grandson?” “How can we walk blocks and blocks to public spaces where who knows what evil may be lurking?”

Can you see how fear can immobilize us? The catch is that as we give in to rational fears (whatever that may mean to you), it becomes easier and easier to give in to the irrational ones. Fear can take over a bigger and bigger portion of your life and decision-making until you are afraid to leave your home.

The fact is, I have very little control over what may or may not happen in this world.  I have great control over how I live my life while in it. I choose to live to the fullest extent. That is only possible if I refuse to give in to fear. At every turn, I have an opportunity to choose faith over fear - what I do, where I go, how I get there, how I vote, whom I vote for, what I eat, what thoughts I allow to reside in my mind, etc. It is all within my control.

While we are on the subject of control, we should be reminded that we have absolutely NO control over the lives of others (at least once our children leave home). If you are fearful for another person ask yourself “who is driving their car?” as my friend Sandi Smith (see the “Right or Related” blog) taught us in the “Happiness Class.” We can only control our own world, our own reality.  As for me, I choose to not waste precious moments thinking about all the awful, horrible, scary things that just may happen - to me or my loved ones.  I choose to fully experience each moment with them, with faith and joy.

This is all very closely related to The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle, a book mentioned often on these blog pages. By choosing to live in this moment, I cast aside hurt and disappointment of the past as well as doubt about what the future may hold.

One last, quick example from the pages of real life may illustrate what I am attempting to communicate here. On the ride to the airport on our last day in Chicago we heard a very sharp “report” that echoed from one direction to the other across the freeway. It did not sound like a backfire. It sounded like a gunshot. I glanced at our cab driver and he seemed totally unfazed. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw an old, rusty van following us closely. Chase scenes from various movies came to mind and I thought about how easy it would be for me to give in to the (really irrational) fear that we were being followed, chased and shot at for whatever illicit business the cabbie had on the side. I had to laugh at the ridiculousness of that thought, but still, I was glad when that van got off our tail and exited the freeway.

Here is an exercise for this coming week - notice how many times you stop yourself from doing something because of fear.  Pay attention to times when your enjoyment of the moment is blocked by an underlying doubt or fear of what may happen.  Living fearlessly (not recklessly) means living a life filled with faith and joy. So, be afraid, NOT!