How do you conquer fear?

[rucky]

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Couldn't be any more true today. So how do we conquer fear?

Bushites fear Muslims, terrorists, liberals, immigrants, democracy, sex, crime, gays... well, pretty much everything that's not them.

We fear facism, PNAC, fundamentalists, corporations, oligarchy, money, power, and the overall destruction of the world from war, poverty, disease & environmental damage.

What's the difference?

So how do you face fear without creating more fear?

[stinkeefresh]

1. love

[Loonman]

2. I will not fear

I will not fear
fear is the mind killer
fear is the little death that brings total oblivion
I will face my fear
I will permit it to pass over me and through me
leaving nothing to remain.

(paraphrased)

[Liberal Veteran]

6. Hahaha! You said the same thing I did....

LOL.

[Loonman]

7. That mantra actually works, too

Amazing.

[Liberal Veteran]

10. It does at that, because it forces you to take a breath..

...distract yourself from your fear, and think logically instead of just relying on your instinctual flight or flight mechanism.

[La_Serpiente]

3. I don't look at the polls

and keep the eye on the goal. :-)

[Liberal Veteran]

4. I must not fear. Fear is the mindkiller.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over and through me. And when it is gone I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

[hippiechick]

5. just do it

:hippie:

[cirej2000]

8. Polls

Lot's of polls and :smoke:

[ErasureAcer]

9. elect Dennis Kucinich president

start by going to his website, www.kucinich.us and donating some $$$

[Runesong]

11. My method:

I remember how completely and utterly screwed I am, and no matter what I do, it can not possibly make things worse! :)

[rucky]

12. That actually makes sense

act like you have nothing to lose

[AG78]

13. Think

It's no more complicated than that.

But unfortunately, it's not always an easy thing to do, for so many reasons that you can't really list them all. But if you give it a thought, you could think of most of them.

[burning bush]

14. Face your fear

And you'll see that the thing you fear is not so terrible. Each time you stand up to the elements of fear, the weaker those elements become.

THat is why it is SO important to stand up to the Bush junta. Face the fear. Defeat the fear.

[morgan2]

15. mock it

Humor is a great way of pointing out how silly the fear people push is.

[FlaGranny]

16. I've had real fear

only a few times in my life and the fear I've had was nothing that I could have done anything much about - fear for a lost child, fear when I thought an airplane I was riding in was going to crash, The kind of fear that just slams you upside the head. Most other kinds of fear (much like anger) can be overcome just by deciding not to be afraid. Fear and anger are much alike. They can start small, but you can work yourself up into a frenzy if you don't put a stop to it. Fear can be as irrational as anger can.

[kentuck]

17. Be brave....

People are depending on you.

[DinahMoeHum]

18. Deep breaths. . .and humor. The late comedian Lord Buckley. . .

once said:
"Terror is the absence of humor, and humor is the absence of terror"

:crazy::crazy::crazy:

[SpiralHawk]

19. Fear is a basic human condition

Bravery means confronting the fear consciously, and then going beyond it.

A traditional Eastern approach to cultivating courage is to learn the life stories of people who have been brave. They can be figures from history, or people you know who have exhibited that quality in some meaningful way.

Having identified people who are courageous, you then study their lives by reading biographies, or watching biographical films, plays, operas, whatever.

As if by osmosis, the qualities your heroes embodied become more vivid and accessible to you.

So go the teachings.