What most of us are unaware of is that in the majority of cases, we are more scared of being scared than of the object of our fear itself. What I mean is that we try to do anything to avoid fear because of the unpleasantness of the feeling. Because we have experienced this feeling in the past, we also expect to experience it in the future. And for that matter, we do apprehend its manifestation as much as its object. We are scared of Fear. Just imagining ourselves in a situation that would scare us will engender a feeling of fear in the now. And most of the time, when the ‘scary’ situation presents itself, it is not as scary as what we first thought. We make ourselves scared right up until the actual event that is preoccupying us, sometimes to the point of feeling sick. That`s what stress is. We go through all kinds of scenarios in our head, each one scarier than the last. But when our big scary event occurs, it just happens, very simply. And then it`s over. It`s done. We all make it in the end. We are all happy that it`s done, and think that after all it was not that bad. We then realize how unnecessary all that fear was.(…). Another example, you may have heard people say, or you may have said it yourself:’ if this happened I would die’, or ‘if that happened I couldn`t cope with it’. My mum told me once:’ if I see a big snake crossing in front of me I will have a heart attack’. Of course you won`t, Mum. You are very scared of snakes for whatever reason, and as such you think that this fear would kill you if it presents itself. I tell you what, if a snake crosses your path, you will find yourself stopping, body and mind. Your heart will race, not stop. And then a few seconds later it`s all over. The snake is gone and you keep on walking, still alive. You may actually become more scared after than during the encounter, as you will rewind in your mind that scene you just lived, and experience fear over and over again. In the moment as such, there was nothing, just pure awareness of a situation and straight action in accordance with it. But when you are telling me that: ’I will be so scared if I see a snake’ you are actually experiencing fear right now about a projection of being scared in the future. All experiences are happening in the now. You can never know how you will react in the future. The fear of fear is useless and scary.

Excerpt from 7 Illusions