“All we have to fear is fear itself.”

What has happened to this notion? Once upon a time, FDR’s words stirred a nation to boldly go forth for the greater good, but the pendulum has swung in completely the opposite direction now.

I was thinking today about our fear level. Everything around us is geared to keep us fearful. Even through my heavy fortifications against media propaganda, messages of fear leak through and sit staring at me from shadowy corners. I don’t subscribe to a newspaper, I don’t have tv reception, and I am careful where I read my news on the Internet, but still, external sources try to whisper over-the-top cautionary phrases as I conduct my daily affairs.

I was raised to be cautious and have good judgment. I tend to weigh the facts before kicking in doors and stepping into the unknown, so I am not reckless by nature. Still, it seems that some would have us cower with our backs against the walls of the hallway rather than attempt to try any of the doors lining it. If I lived my life by listening to my fears, I wouldn’t want to leave the house. I’d be afraid that I’d slip on some wet leaves and hurt myself or that someone would nab me in the night and do unpleasant things to me. I can’t live like that. Not for a minute. If I did, I’d never experience the beauty of standing at the top of a mountain, I’d never ride my bike home from a friend’s house after dark and experience the amazing quiet of the night and smell that particular odour that only seems to happen when the dew is just beginning to form. There’s nothing like it and I wouldn’t know it if I were too afraid to get out there and exist.

I’m tired of people trying to warn me against having adventures. Sure, I’ve had accidents, I’ve been injured, and I’ve eaten foods that really didn’t agree with me, but that doesn’t dampen the overall joy that I experienced. Regardless of having Montezuma’s Revenge in Cozumel, I had an amazing time and remember it with great fondness.

Live and learn! That’s a much better attitude than the live in fear message bombarding us every moment of every day.

I make the following promises to myself:

- I will not quietly sneak and quake my way through my days.

- I will not allow the notion that there could be someone waiting around that dark corner to do me harm prevent me from walking past it. I will take reasonable precautions and I will be aware of my surroundings, but I will not carry a gun, I will not encourage people to have chips implanted that track our movements, I will not be convinced that everyone is out to get me in this country, in any country on this planet or from any planet in this universe. I will take care of myself and I will watch out for the community around me.

- I will eat the produce from my local farms because I cannot live in fear that they will have been careless or intentionally poisoned my food.

- I will not be told that I don’t care about my country because I choose not to listen to popular opinion polls and national news. I care just as much, if not more. I simply am thoughtful and I take the credibility of the source into consideration.

- I will not allow fear of being seen as a threat to national security stop me from baking delicious cookies and putting them in the mailbox as a treat for the postal worker that has been daily bringing me mail for years. I will continue to be shocked and appalled every time someone tries to tell me that this simple act of kindness could possibly be construed as anything malicious.

Embrace life! Embrace people! Talk to strangers! Keep an open mind, for one never knows when someone is waiting to drop something beautiful into it.
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