|
Power of fear in words
The Fear Standard - Chapter 6 The Power Of Fear In A Word
There are many words that represent a negative or positive aspect of behavior or emotion. Variations happen depending on how a society or a family unit becomes accustomed to using the representation of a word within everyday communication, also. For example, the original meaning of a word may have expressed a negative behavior definition, but over time has achieved a harmless status within society. There are many places where fear can take on the appearance of a positive attitude or belief, and hide behind the positive intent when it's really a wound. Let's look at some words I consider major hiding places where fear becomes the flip side of the coin from the general positive definition. You'll probably come up with a couple of your own words as we explore this area of words we use to represent behaviors where fear hides. If you do, write them down, so you can be conscious of this duality.
Control
In its positive form, one of the main purposes for control would be to "guide" or to "manage. " To control in order to gain dominion over others disempowers people. Fear has entered and then becomes the commanding force behind control. Why? Because someone who wants to overpower us for any reason other than the appropriate positive guidance or management setting, fears being out of control in their own lives for any number of reasons. They are looking to control others to compensate for their own fear and loss. In other words, they feed off of someone else's energy. We've heard people say someone has a "control issue" or a desire to dominate. Money, relationships, social rules and organizations of all types are areas where control may tightly weave in and hide out, trying to appear benign and positive when it is just the opposite. We can easily think of situations and people in our lives where this has occurred.
One of the sure ways to discern if someone is applying positive control in anything is where people are being led and supported to positive success with their individual talents, growth, differences and beliefs. The freedom to be our individual selves without fear of reprisal is the ultimate freedom from negative control.
Anger
Anger is an emotional state. Beneath all anger is fear. Anger has several levels of emotional intensity and implication. Anger is all around us in the world.
When we are angry with a person, a belief system, a rule, a process, or anything else, we are also expressing our fear that something is potentially threatening our wholeness, our freedom or our well-being. We may be fearful that someone is trying to stop us from speaking our truth and is suppressing our sovereignty as human beings. We may be fearful that someone is polluting the environment and placing the planet's health at risk. We may be fearful that our political representatives aren't positively representing our desires and needs. From a directly personal viewpoint, we can be angry about our relationship with a friend, a partner, a parent, a teacher, or a boss. We can be angry with ourselves.
There is a way to dislodge that illusive fear that hides itself beneath anger. Whether we have anger toward someone or toward ourselves, if we do not positively eliminate or redirect it through positive action, it becomes stuck. Then we become stuck with it. It has to go somewhere! When we bring it out into the light from its hiding place, we eliminate the anger.
|
