“Don't give in to your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
I have been thinking about fear and all the ways fear manifests itself in our lives. Then I ran across this quote. I love the way it sounds but I don't understand what it means. Can you tell me what it means to you?
I take it to mean that if fear overwhelms you that you won't be able to fulfill your dreams. Fear clouds and distorts what we really want out of life.
ReplyDeleteI get that. Fear does get in the way of moving forward in life. But is it also a protective device? Keeps us safe?
DeleteFear fills the arena with a smoky haze. The heart does not perform well, when the air is not clear and vibrant. Therefore,conquer your fears, and your heart will see clearly.
ReplyDeleteBut do you even know what your fears really are?
DeleteI am quite familiar with fear and I do relate to this quote. I do understand that I cannot be open to give and receive love when I am a shut-in living in a stuffy, airless, space only filled with fear.
ReplyDeleteBut what if fear is peeking in around the cracks? What if fear is dominating the scene but she makes her presence known? And, again, isn't there a reason for fear?
DeleteThe sensation of fear causes a logical reaction, as in all of our defenses go up, to shut it out, or keep it at bay. When I get logical, I don't always listen to my heart, which is emotive and intuitive. Once we go into defensive mode, we stop exploring, stop taking chances, stop feeling so freely. It's too dangerous.
ReplyDeleteIt is too dangerous. And it feeds lonliness.
DeleteI don't know what this means either, but it makes me think about this: Do courage and bravery reside in the heart? Can one only be brave when one is afraid? I think so. Ulysses says, " “I cannot be immortal, what use is courage then ?” i.e. If we have no fear, we cannot be courageous--if one cannot die, one has nothing to fear. So our fears are essential for us to be "heroes." However, if one is overcome with terror, he/she is paralyzed and cannot act or do the "right" thing. One example that comes to mind is lying, as in not telling the truth. Often we lie out of fear of getting in trouble or not being liked. Usually the brave thing is to tell the truth as difficult as that is. Movie BRAVE HEART--that title also comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteLying is about protection. When you can't tell the truth b/c your life will fall apart, you lie. I never saw Brave Heart - nothing about that movie appealed to me. But I know about fear and I know about loneliness and I don't know what to do with fear. and i don't know how to talk to the heart.
DeleteI think Lyndagrace's explanation came closest to what the quote says to me. I remember many years ago seeing an episode of Oprah in which the expert of the hour opined that there are really only two emotions: love & fear. This expert seemed to think that they were mutually exclusive. I found that concept absolutely absurdly insultingly simplistic. But maybe that's sort of what this quote is getting at: fear clouds our ability to really listen to and hear our hearts and the hearts of others as well. That's something that makes more sense to me.
ReplyDeleteFear serves a purpose for sure - protection?
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