Fear indicates a threat to our life. As such, it is a spiritual matter. How so? Since our spirit is that which makes us alive and fear indicates a threat to our life, fear is spirit-related.
Fear is an acute condition of our spirit. It is a thumological rather than psychological event.
There are two kinds of fear: life-denying and life-affirming.
Life-Denying Fear
Life-denying fear hinders or prevents us from fulfilling the life-affirming desires of our hearts. It is mind-based. Our thoughts (self talk) and imaginings provoke it.
It's past-oriented in that memories of our own experiences or other's stories of harm inspire our thoughts and imaginings. We speak to ourselves and imagine scenes about things that are not actually happening. They're happening only in our minds. Even so, they provoke fear in our spirit and thereby deny us acting in ways that fulfill the life-affirming desires of our hearts.
Life-Affirming Fear
Life-affirming fear preserves and sustains our spirit and life so that we can fulfill the life-affirming desires of our hearts. It is based in our immediate experience, instincts, and intuition.
It's present-oriented but also about our immediate future. There is a real threat to our spirit and therefore our life. Our life is at risk. There is someone or something that could harm or kill us.
Taking immediate action to protect and keep our spirit affirms our life. We either freeze, fight, or flee. Since we keep living, we can act in ways that fulfill the life-affirming desires of our hearts.
We do well to recognize and banish life-denying, mind-based fear. We do well to recognize and develop life-affirming, spirit-focused fear. It sustains our life and enables us to fulfill the life-affirming desires of our hearts.
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