For the first time ever, I am truly afraid

May this bring you to where you should be, read it slowly and think as you read. You are strong and ready my friend.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,

even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble,

it's a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love;

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life,

keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

well, just tell your god and jesus to stay the fuck
away from our planet!

^^^ this is actually a very good post, and yes i agree with you people realize there is something very wrong and there are no fixes in sight. worse then that there are far too many people who don't care and seem determined to let it all go to hell. those of us who feel also know we are so far outnumbered.

we here in the states and you up there in canada (you are better off then we are), we are letting something beautiful slip away, shame on us. for me, i am glad that i will never have to look our founding fathers in the eye and try to explain the mess this country is in....

In point of fact the founding fathers knew. Thomas Jefferson predicted this country would fail if it did not change and become new again.

Can I just throw in that a lot of bad things can happen, a lot of people can die without it literally being "the end of the world". I agree and sympathize with OP that I have also felt this way for a while.

There are a lot of earthquakes hitting every single day, the pacific rim is lit up. the sun is more active than ever before. animals are dropping dead, beaching themselves, falling out of the sky. you cannot deny all these seemingly random events could be the early signs of something more catostrophic.

I think most people understand this is not literally the end of our physical planet. However being realistic, much of the Earth's population lives along coastlines and they are appearing more unstable with each passing week.

Let's hope it is not the end of the entire world. We tend to think it is all or nothing. There is just too much "stuff" going on for nothing to happen.

It is not about one fkng country, or two...
When one have all other have nothing, is hipocrisy?
We all are in one big leaky boat, what you will do about it, bomb them?!
i guess you already saw it, if not, see again, is a silly video but is true...

Dear NothingFancy,

Fear is a regular emotion that is built into our framework as humans. It's a vital aspect of sensing danger and responding to it. There's nothing at all wrong with fear, for that is a response to something we perceive that we sense will harm either our families or ourselves.

The body responds and releases adrenalin and this fight-or-flight response allows our eyes to dilate to see better, our digestion shuts down so the blood is supplied to our limbs for fighting or fleeing, we become hyperaware of danger and sensation in general, the blood vessels for our limbs open wider to allow more blood for muscular activity, breathing accelerates to get more oxygen to mitochondria for an increase in energy, the heart pumps faster to get more blood to the muscle. In essence, our entire body becomes infused with a warrior spirit and reach to pounce.

When fear perpetuates, then usually it's because we think that we can't cope with the danger. That releases chemicals in our body, mainly from the adrenals on a continuous basis. It produces exhaustion. Instead of the body being able to fight and pounce or even to run, it paralyzes people.

This transforms FEAR into being AFRAID.

Being afraid is not a normal response. What has happened is that your mind is now out of synch with your body and you have become fearful of coping. You've lost the trust in yourself. It's a lack of self-confidence.

Individuals long ago decided they couldn't just rely upon their families. They needed communities in order to best respond to danger in any realistic manner. Those communities were called tribes or sometimes clans.
They feared the unknown, and the best response to danger was from a community response. Since an individual could always falter in strength, get old, get sick, or merely be wounded and unable to protect themselves or their family, it was wisdom to find a community. There is strength in numbers.

No one family themselves can oppose a large threat. It was simply a pragmatic human response.

I urge you to find a community to build yourself up in. Surround yourself with mentors whatever your age. You have talents that help your family cope. Your children do as well. Finding a community in which your talents synergistically empower others and facilitate your own strength is key to not being perpetually afraid.

The unknown has always created fear in humanity. We sense a danger but cannot perceive its inner nature. It remains at the periphery of our senses.

The danger in an unthinking non-contemplative human is that we empower the “Danger” and give it some of our power. We yield a little of ourselves to it, like it's a vampire stealing away our force.

If you were a believer in things like Ki (or Chi) energy, then imagine it sucking away the energy that you are ordinarily bringing into yourself from the Universe. That enabling energy is wicked away and you feel a loss of strength. Isn't this how you feel?

Don't give the Unknown more power than it has. In reality, there is probably no good reason to be fearful. We should only generate fear in response to a clear and present danger. To perpetually be fearful (be afraid) will only exhaust our resources and resolve.

Most people fear death. Find some ways to cope by dispelling the fear of death. Take away that sting. We all will die sometime. It only happens once in moments. Life happens continuously and empowers. Focus on life. The times when we are most aware of the goodness of life are usually the times we most cherish and relish.

A parent fears harm to their loved ones above a fear of death. The only ways to prepare for that are practical ones that eliminate the dangers as much as possible by careful home defense, food and water supplies, and learning skills to provide for our families. All people throughout time regardless of education or wealth have done those things. So can you.

Much of life is about perception and outlook. Two different people will have two remarkably different outlooks based upon their assessment of life and the dangers of living it. One can choose to embrace life and live in the Eternal Now, hate and even despise some past event and let that awful filter paralyze their lives, or be fearful of a future and unable to cope.

In your heart, mind, and soul, you have some ideas about good ways to cope. Trust your instincts as long as they seem valid and true. Your feelings are valid, for they are your own ideas...but they may not reflect reality and hence be true. A parent is always thinking, “Is this true? Is this TRUTH?”.

There is much truth in this, but I sense it falls short. I imagine the same could be said of most things, but there is something intrinsic missing in this. I'm guessing it has something to do with how to form bridges, and how to get away from, in your mind, fear. Perpetual fear I call
shattered rage as it is so overwhelming, and children create fear just by being. Letting go of this feels like abandonment, therefore, cognitive dissonance seeps into your soul from the disparate values clash. Depression tends to follow and a vortex, sometimes called a spiral, is formed that seems without end.

These are extremes, noted, but more prevalent than one would imagine. Coaxing the mind into a "feel good" frame of reason is sometimes not that good.

Sometimes "Its a good day to die" works better.

I don't know what it is or why but I have an anxiousness that I cannot shake. While part of me believes nothing will happen in the next few weeks, another part of me is worried and nervous.

I am a tough broad, haha. I have faced many trials throughout my life.

Some that I look back on and wonder, what was I thinking?

Like the time my oldest daughter was being bullied and 15 girls showed up at my house to "confront" her. I ran out onto my lawn with a baseball bat ready to swing at anyone that attempted to harm her. Needless to say my psychotic behavior that night paved a better road for her at school because no one wanted to mess with the girl with the lunatic for a mother.

I faced sickness, almost losing my home, raising my girls alone, and countless other scenarios. It is life, nothing spectacular and nothing that no one else faces. But I faced it head on, never backing down and with no fear. I believe in God, heart, body and soul.

I am afraid. I don't know what to expect and I don't know if I have done enough in my life or helped my girls enough.

I mean that's what it is all about, right? Doing for others. I hope I have done enough, I hope I have taught my girls so that they have done enough. I hope I haven't wasted too much time because for once in my life, I am afraid.

The same people who rag about religion, and Christianity, whose people came from Christian countries and have Christian roots as part of their cultural heritage, have no problem believing that some ignorant, pagan savages, who practiced pretty much non-stop human sacrifice to their demonic gods, in their beknighted, ignorant, savage, primitive, darkened state, yea THESE BASTARDS, yea some slope headed, naked, heart ripper outter, drooling on his tomohawk, yea,HE CAME UP WITH THE DEFINITIVE ANSWER.

But, God Himself came down from heaven in order to save mankind from their ignorance and sin. He stated that "no one knows the time." But, let's not believe the
Lord God of the Universe, Jesus Christ. Let's not believe the word of the Sacred Scripture, inspired by the Holy Ghost, which is infallible. Let's all throw in with slope head and his magic twanger and believe that retarded story.

That's a samurai ethic. There's a famous story about retribution against someone who had harmed a samurai's family. He spoke to a Buddist monk and told him that if he fought, he knew it was morally correct, but he would most likely die. The monk replied, "Cut off your dualism and let the one sword stand serenely by itself against the sky !"
[link to zazen-reflexions.blogspot.com]

That is Bushido, and beyond this topic.

In reality, on the frontier, the death of a family member would so crippy the family's ability to persist, that it often ruined them. While chosing retribution may seem to be the right solution, if it causes irreperable harm to the family by your death, then what did you gain?

Actually, "Its a good day to die" is from the Native American tradition. I can't remember who said it first, but it was embraced by all Native Ameriicans that I know of. It refers to not giving in to fear and is still taught to our children today. I taught it to mine, but I also taught the importance of survival. "Live to fight another day" is compatable with the former thought if the fight is beyond winning. Both are important, but on another plane I also taught my kids that, "Noone can own anything but their word, and if they don't own that, then they don't own anything" which flies in the face of "He who dies with the most toys wins." There are other ways of winning.

religion = non acceptance of death = why so afraid?.. i fear death only because it is unkown...

Deja Vu 2 weeks ago and I said it out loud. Not trying to sound like a nut, but a few times I think something and the word or number happens a second later on the radio or tv. I just sit back and say "wtf" and continue on. I wonder how many others are experiencing this?

Actually, "Its a good day to die" is from the Native American tradition. I can't remember who said it first, but it was embraced by all Native Ameriicans that I know of. It refers to not giving in to fear and is still taught to our children today. I taught it to mine, but I also taught the importance of survival. "Live to fight another day" is compatable with the former thought if the fight is beyond winning. Both are important, but on another plane I also taught my kids that, "Noone can own anything but their word, and if they don't own that, then they don't own anything" which flies in the face of "He who dies with the most toys wins." There are other ways of winning.

women are sentimental slobs.