The recent holiday got me thinking about fear. Halloween is a time that we see fear as entertaining. We go to haunted houses, watch scary movies, and wear frightening costumes. At the same time, we spend a lot of time and effort protecting ourselves from all other kinds of fears, both real and imagined.
For example, and this really bugs me, nobody will let their kids eat homemade treats. Why? I've never heard of an actual case of Halloween candy poisoning except for one alleged incident that may or may not have happened before I was old enough to remember. I'm sure Hershey is making a whole lot of money off of our fear. It is also fraying the fabric of society. What does it say when we won't trust our neighbor enough even to eat their cookies?
Now, there are rational risk reduction measures that are a good idea. For example, don't let your kids wear dark costumes without reflectors or glow sticks. Cars are a real and legitimate danger. Razor blades in candy apples are not.
Another thing that sparked this train of thought was the ten year anniversary of the Patriot Act. A fearful population is so easy to control. You can get them to agree to all kinds of unfair rules and regulations. You can also get them to buy all kinds of useless crap. Fear is what makes us give all our money to health insurance companies even though we all know they are a racket. Too much Law and Order has people putting GPS chips in their kids and reading our spouses emails. Kidnappers and adulturers are everywhere, you know.
So next time you make a decision, really think. Why are you making it? Is it because you are afraid? Is the fear productive? If you are afraid of getting cancer so you buy organic produce, that's productive. If you are afraid of murderers and rapists so you don't leave the house after dark, that is not productive (at least in most American neighborhoods). We all have to decide how much risk we are comfortable with. But maybe take a minute and reflect on it so that that decision is made with intent and not passively.
"Fear is the mind killer" (how many times have I quoted that?). Fear can rule our lives if we let it. I will not let it. I am much braver for myself than I am for my children. My greatest fear is that something bad should happen to them. But trying to protecting my children hasn't really protected them from life. We are all on a journey, and no one knows where their path will take them. But we will not get very far if we let fear keep us from venturing forth. Of all the things I feared, almost none of them came to pass. I was, instead, blind-sided by other things that I could not have forseen. The lesson: live fully, bravely, and fearlessly, because if you don't you will miss the highest highs of life.
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