Fear, anxiety, worry or dread.  Whatever it's called, it’s on the increase.

Not a surprise really, when we consider how much there is to be anxious about. I mean, politics, money, health, global warming, kids, clean water, overpopulation, racism... The list can be lengthy.

Add in social media comparisons, pot-stirring bots, and general addiction to drama's chemical highs, and we can see how fear levels just keep cranking up.

Of course, every creature experiences fear. Even those without computers.

And it's not like they bring it on themselves. The antelope who gets thirsty doesn't cause the alligator's attack. He doesn't put the alligator there in that spot, make him hungry, make him single out one particular antelope among the many.

It's just happenstance, just a happening.

So there's no point in the antelope worrying about future alligator attacks, is there? No point in fretting, “OK, alligators hang around watering holes. I’ll just never drink ever again and that should take care of it.”

Instead of planning for future safety, our antelope friend drinks when thirsty, gets afraid when the alligator shows, and lives or dies.

Fear still shows up, but only when there’s actually something to be afraid of in that moment.

What a concept!

Apparently animals are able to live without guaranteed safety.

Not us humans though. We require safety. We require control of fear. We need to never be afraid again. If we fail and fear happens anyway, well then, it won't conquer us! No, dammit, we’ll be the boss, thank you very much.

Of course, that means we have to find ways to control events, find solutions, and plan ahead for later.

Which puts us in the position of needing to be psychic. And god.

That's calming, right? No pressure there.

Our well-being seems to depend on finding things we can do about that empty bank account, this political leader, the amount of trash in the ocean. That's time consuming. And it completely runs our lives.

Which is fine. Unless we don’t like fear.

Because trying to eliminate might-come-laters increases anxiety now, and doesn’t even save us from later worry.

Perhaps not an effective use of limited life hours.

So that's not working. How about something different?

Well, we could notice how we’re actually doing, what’s actually happening, rather than focusing on future disaster.

Y'know, like the antelope. "Oooh grass!" rather than, "Will there be an alligator later?"

Because when we fret about impending homelessness that isn’t actually here, we miss the sweetness of the roof currently overhead. When we stress about the horribly-painful death sure to come later, we miss the breath, the skin holding the insides in, the heart doing its job… in this moment.

We miss the grass-filled, non-alligator, non-anxious, already-safe, present.

Imagining death, poverty, and unsafety to come makes us quake. In advance. While we’re actually safe.

Yeah that’s not nuts at all.

So we might try noticing the difference between actual circumstances, and thoughts about what might be.

“I’m going to be homeless” is not the same as, “I am homeless.” “I could die” is not the same as, “I’m dead.”

Not-scary lives in this moment. Presence is calming.

And sure, we can keep planning and trying to change circumstances. But if we want to manage fear, we might notice where peace hangs out.

Noticing doesn't change situations. Or eliminate fear.

It just reduces time spent living in Self-created horror movies.

Because constantly anticipating and planning for cancer, poverty, war, or danger that isn't actually here...

Is crazy.

And terrifying.

And there’s certainly no freedom in that.


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