The only thing we have to fear is...fear itself. -FDR
Happy Dog-Play-Days-of-Summer Everyone!
Hope you are all enjoying your summer - or winter for all our pals south of the equator! We have been having a blast taking our dogs to various beaches along the seemingly endless California coast.
On one of these trips while I was admiring our dogs' display of pure uninhibited joy, the thought occurred to me that they seem to be so much more evolved than most people simply because they live in the moment. And more specifically, they don't pollute their thoughts with doubt or insecurity. They never seem to indulge in irrational fears or wanting their world to be different than the way it is right now.
Then it occurred to me that many of the qualities that we would all love to develop - confidence, certainty, vivacity and living life fully, is actually not something that we have to develop at all. My dogs have these qualities naturally!! Rather, we simply need to IDENTIFY and REMOVE the FEARS that we all carry around in its various forms: doubt, insecurity, stress, worry, anxiety... I could go on and on (and for a complete list - go to http://thesaurus.com/browse/fear?s=t and you will see how important FEAR seems to be in the English Language!!) but if we're truly honest with ourselves, we'll find we carry around a lot of this heavy debilitating and ultimately USELESS emotion! And this also manifests itself in our attachments to how we want other people to perceive us: successful, likable, owns impressive car/house/fashion/things etc, smart, strong, beautiful... again, I could go on and on.
The real epiphany for me here is, if you can let go of your fear (Note: fear does NOT have a hold on you, you're the one holding onto fear!) you already have all of those great qualities you thought you had to develop! They're all simply part of our natural state of being before our lives are made smaller by limiting and fearful beliefs. We all have the power to let go of fear, and it starts with believing that you do!
I think this is what President Franklin D. Roosevelt meant when he said "The Only Thing We Have to Fear is, Fear itself." Maybe he had just come back from the dog beach.
ALL THINGS POSSIBLE!
Chris
Hope you are all enjoying your summer - or winter for all our pals south of the equator! We have been having a blast taking our dogs to various beaches along the seemingly endless California coast.
On one of these trips while I was admiring our dogs' display of pure uninhibited joy, the thought occurred to me that they seem to be so much more evolved than most people simply because they live in the moment. And more specifically, they don't pollute their thoughts with doubt or insecurity. They never seem to indulge in irrational fears or wanting their world to be different than the way it is right now.
Then it occurred to me that many of the qualities that we would all love to develop - confidence, certainty, vivacity and living life fully, is actually not something that we have to develop at all. My dogs have these qualities naturally!! Rather, we simply need to IDENTIFY and REMOVE the FEARS that we all carry around in its various forms: doubt, insecurity, stress, worry, anxiety... I could go on and on (and for a complete list - go to http://thesaurus.com/browse/fear?s=t and you will see how important FEAR seems to be in the English Language!!) but if we're truly honest with ourselves, we'll find we carry around a lot of this heavy debilitating and ultimately USELESS emotion! And this also manifests itself in our attachments to how we want other people to perceive us: successful, likable, owns impressive car/house/fashion/things etc, smart, strong, beautiful... again, I could go on and on.
The real epiphany for me here is, if you can let go of your fear (Note: fear does NOT have a hold on you, you're the one holding onto fear!) you already have all of those great qualities you thought you had to develop! They're all simply part of our natural state of being before our lives are made smaller by limiting and fearful beliefs. We all have the power to let go of fear, and it starts with believing that you do!
I think this is what President Franklin D. Roosevelt meant when he said "The Only Thing We Have to Fear is, Fear itself." Maybe he had just come back from the dog beach.
ALL THINGS POSSIBLE!
Chris
posted by Christopher Showerman @ 7/15/2012 05:40:00 PM
7 Comments:
At 2:57 PM, July 16, 2012 ,
Tim said...
"Fear causes hesitation and hesitation causes your worst fears to come true". Patrick Swayze in the movie "Point Blank"
At 5:22 AM, July 17, 2012 ,
Anonymous said...
Like dogs and other animals, we humans need to learn better to be THANKFUL and SATISFIED with the basics--a full(but not TOO full!!) belly, shelter from the elements if we want it, peace and escape from threats, and good friends or family around(or at least on the internet!). Everything else is superfulous, and is NOT worth getting stressed or demanding about. Having animals in our care helps remind us of these basics on a daily basis--why I think people without animals in their life are so deprived. They are our connection with Nature, and our REAL selves, to balance out the artificiality of most man-made environments. We are not whole without our animal friends and inspirations........L.B.
At 4:40 PM, July 19, 2012 ,
SusanGail said...
Love this great ATP Dog Blog! Animals can be our best teachers, as often shared here on forum. Looking forward to more inspirational topics, and really enjoy the wisdom in this space. Thanks for sharing your joys of summer with us...Sue
At 5:12 AM, July 21, 2012 ,
Anonymous said...
....I planned to elaborate a bit more on this post, to tie-in my comments more with the subject(I'm easily distracted), but I got distracted. I'm sometimes redundant, too.....Anyway, in a nutshell, IF you have this understanding of what's REALLY important, learned from our animal associates, who tend to be so much better than us at naturally just knowing, then you are free and much braver to attempt those other, more grandiose human things that might come along. Because you KNOW you have that solid base to fall back on; that you WILL be happy and content no matter the outcome. And happiness with your life is the TRUE sign of success!....And speaking of "Brave"--movie report! Yeah, LOVING anything to do with Scottish culture and themes, I HAD to go see "Brave"! I LOVED it! It was a HOOT! And a great story(especially for mothers and daughters, and bear lovers--I'm the latter.....) And boy-howdy it is just INCREDIBLE what they can do with animation these days......L.B.
At 1:38 AM, July 31, 2012 ,
Jaschenka said...
Hello dear forum family!
Thanks for that great post, Chris, and great timing too, so shortly after I had to let go of my beloved Luna. It does make me extra gratefull for the years we spend together, and it certainly put things in perspective.
A lot has been going on in a short period of time over here, but it all made me realise there are more important things in life. I guess, up to some point, I am letting the fear go, in fact, taking the opportunity to travel some new roads. You see, it was around the same time my dog passed away that I found out I'd have to leave my job. Not something to look forward to, but when my Grandfather was submitted to hospital for heart surgery (and got through it ok!) I figured it just isn't about the money. Surrounded by friends and family, finding support and gratitude..things that really matter. It also gave me an opening and extra motivation to finally set up my mythreal webpage and my boyfriend (thanks, love!) even hooked that up to a webshop. This weekend is Castlefest- our mini forum gathering. We will miss all of you, but I've got Ute coming over to join the party and we always enjoy the good memories. We're planning to have some careless doggy-beach-time fun! Have a great Summer, everyone! Be Inspired! Jaschenka
At 5:42 AM, August 01, 2012 ,
SusanGail said...
Hi there, Jaschenka and everyone. I just had a feeling about the forum today and your new adventure. Thinking back to when the forum began and getting to know you all. What roads we've traveled. Thanks for sharing your update and wish we might all be at Castlefest with you! Send details! Have a wonderful time! Glad your grandfather is OK. I sure agree about the importance of friends,family and kindred spirits and being in gratitude to "be inspired" to go beyond our fears. Thanks for your inspiration to all of us.
I'm off to VA next week for the Intuitive Heart Discovery Process workshop given by Henry Reed. It's been an adventure for me, as well, since the forum began. Lots of ATP for all of us! And for me...to keep on keeping on with ATB:)
Look forward to some movie news...and hope the summer is going well for all of you. It certainly is going fast! Running on the beach sounds fantastic!:) ATB! Sue
PS A picture is worth a thousand words:) Doggy beach pics?
At 2:49 PM, August 05, 2012 ,
Alex said...
Great post Chris with absolutely true, wise words, thoughts and comments; thanks to you and all for sharing them!
Hope you all are having a safe, enjoyable, relaxing summer; take care everyone!
Alex
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