Fear vs Awareness

Fear vs Awareness
Written by Invictus Member Andy Byrne

While this has been an article I have been wanting to write for some time, this most recent pandemic has prompted me to put thoughts to paper in an effort to invite us all to rise above our base instincts and approach life more consciously.  

It is only natural when faced with something so unknown, which disrupts our lives so massively, that we may all be tempted to react and focus on the most primal of instincts, the need to survive. This tendency towards self-preservation is simultaneously our greatest superpower and, if left unchecked, the most certain path to our eventual demise. It is from this frame that I will be inviting readers to consider the difference between fear and awareness, to approach all unknowns from consciousness and not reactivity.

I first want to be clear about my stance on fear as I want to avoid any misunderstanding that I am in any way diminishing the importance of fear. On the contrary, I honor fear completely and believe we must all truly understand the nature of fear and listen more to its advice and guidance. Fear is our oldest ally in our struggle to survive and exist for as long as we have, and it is not to be dismissed or subjugated.  

Instead, fear must be embraced so that we can harness its wisdom and consider its perspective in our effort to move through life effectively. Without fear, we would all be completely vulnerable to the dangers of the world as fear is our first defense; it is that feeling that something is just not right. Fear triggers us to be on alert, to pay closer attention, to be on the lookout for what may be wanting to do us harm. Thus, please be assured that I will not be suggesting that anyone stop being afraid as that would not only be impossible, but incredibly irresponsible and dangerous.

However, my contention, and what I hope to convince you all of, is that fear is not to be fully trusted as it is unable to connect to any other perspective than its own. By the very fact that it is an emotion, it cannot connect to anything beyond what it is programmed to tell us. In other words, fear can only speak of danger and self-preservation; it will only ever tell us of the worst-case scenario and cannot see beyond the limits of what has already been experienced. 

Fear is our body’s alarm system, alerting us to potential harm, but if we just blindly followed fear’s leadership, would we ever stretch beyond the limits of survival? Would we ever challenge ourselves to try something new or attempt something that we have already failed?  

Fear is pure reactivity, interested only in keeping us safe, and the safest place for us to be, is what we already know. So, while fear is paramount to our survival, if we allow fear to be the driver of our lives, we will never even begin to see our true potential or what the world may have to offer us.

Therefore, please allow me to make the case for awareness. According to the Buddhist tradition, there are three states of mind: The Emotional Mind; the Intellectual Mind; and the Wise Mind. Very simply stated, if one lives only in the emotional mind, life is chaotic. If one only allows intellect to guide them, they become robotic and find relating to others to be difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, wisdom is the integration of emotion and intellect; the ability to connect to all the information in order to make the best possible choice in that moment. Awareness is that wisdom, the harness which keeps fear from fully taking over and causing us to react rather than respond.  

Whereas fear suggests that we can know what the future will be and thus control it, awareness accepts that we have no control over what will be or what has been, which allows us to connect to our ability to choose our next move in this moment. Awareness helps us to see that our true power lies not in reacting, but in paying attention and preparing.  

From the perspective of fear, this pandemic is the most dangerous thing that has ever happened to us; it is so unknown and so outside of our control that it is easy to fall into the belief that we must only focus on our own survival.  

From the perspective of awareness, however, this is simply one more challenge we must face and find our way to the other side. Again, this is not dismissive of the massive struggles and life-altering consequences being enacted because of this crisis. It is, however, a recognition that process is more important than content. 

If we focus only on the content, then every time we encounter something new or different, we will immediately be plunged into a state of fear and instantly think that this new thing is dangerous and that we should just stay where we are, paralyzed but safe.  

If, on the other hand, we were to realize that everything we encounter for the first time is, by definition unknown, we would see that the process is always the same: pay attention and learn what we can, then approach with caution to see what needs to happen to overcome that challenge, and put what we have learned into practice, thus making the unknown, known.  

It has been said that the most certain thing in life is uncertainty yet fear inherently rejects uncertainty and invites us to live under an illusion of security, which always presents a dilemma when something unexpected occurs. This is not fear’s fault as its sole function is to keep us safe and there is nothing more unsafe than the unknown.  

The challenge here is, of course, that our body’s primary defense system automatically and instantly resists this basic truth about life, that life is uncertain. With practice, however, we can cultivate the awareness to live our lives free from the bonds of our automatic processes. We can learn to create space between what is happening around us (that which is out of our control) and how we choose to respond. 

It is this ability to live life intentionally and with purpose that will enable us to find our way through any challenge we face.  So, when fear tries to convince you to react and think only of survival, see if you might pause a moment to consider what awareness would say.

Editor’s Note: Andy is a Marriage & Family Therapist and has a private practice in San Diego, California. He and his wife, Vicky, are longtime members of the Sea of Green and are staples of our morning classes as are their adorable kids who make guest judging appearances at our in-house competitions.