Every time we choose safety, we reinforce fear.  When we try to avoid the discomfort that we call fear, our lives shrink.  We misidentify discomfort as something wrong.  Instead, if we take a step towards fear, and see what happens, it widens our view.  Everything we do show something and we learn something from it, says Zen Buddhist, Cheri Huber.

“Without fear, wouldn’t you just put your hand in the boiling hot water?” The belief is that having fear keep us from doing dangerous things, and this is how fear convince us that we need to stay away from fearful situations.

Like all other emotions, fear is letting us know to look what is going on.  The fact is that the fear of fear shrinks our world, like the fear of anger brings on depression.  Fear is a thought that imagine situations that do not exist in the moment.

Learn to ask:  Is that happening now? Is that my experience or my belief?  Parents say ‘no’ to the child all the time.  The child learns not to do anything.  Parents say ‘yes’ while teaching the child what to look for his/her safety, and the child learns to explore the world safely taking some risks.  Which parent would you like to have or be?