 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Warrior Work Week 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fear and Courage "Courage and fear are the same; it is a matter of direction and momentum." Sun Tzu - Art of War FEAR - from old English faer, meaning "danger", also from faerer, meaning to frighten. 1. Apprehension or dread. 2. Reverence or awe. COURAGE - from the French corage, from the root coeur and the Latin cor meaning "heart". The ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from one's chosen course of action. When you read Sun Tzu's perception and then look at the western definitions you might wonder how can they be the same and yet appear so different? In the west we tend to think in abstract so they appear as opposites as does hot, cold, male, female but in a concrete or pictographic based society like China, they are two halves of a whole. Sun Tzu might have said, "Man and woman are the same; they are form and energy, matter and spirit, and are known by their direction and momentum." Is their direction on the path of power to control and dominate (directly or indirectly) or to love, empower, free and serve? Momentum comes from both inward passion and outward circumstance harmonizing together. When my focus is on myself and what might happen to ME or to MY business or to MY relationship and "what will people think?", then I am filled with apprehension, dread and a sense of danger that may cause me to be pushed into doing things I may come to regret. DESIRE PULLS US, FEAR PUSHES US. But when I stand centered, my intent is clear, my heart pure, then fear dissipates and courage rises. I move forward in the direction of what is best, what is most loving: to protect, to serve, to free, to heal. As I move in that direction then momentum starts to kick in and I wonder how I could ever have chosen another path BUT if the intent in my heart isn't clear then as outside pressure builds, momentum lags and perception shifts back in the direction of the self, then fear starts to build and the momentum shifts inward to where our entire being becomes frozen and impotent. I have seen women in abusive relationships that were frozen by fear, but when they got so tired of the abuse that they would rather DIE than be in a relationship of that nature, then their heart was clear, their energy focused and they found the tools to "break away". People can "see" how clear or unclear we are in our hearts when it comes to saying and MEANING what our goals are. The eyes truly are the windows to the heart and soul. So reflect on the times you have experienced courage or fear. Be mindful of where your FOCUS was, your goals or lack thereof. Where was your heart? Up in your throat or beating strongly in your chest? The ENERGY was the same but IT WAS A MATTER OF DIRECTION AND MOMEMTUM! Your INTENT decided if that energy was transformed into what we call courage or fear. One other note to contemplate. One of those definitions in fear was "reverence" or "awe" as in the biblical "fear of God". If you have ever stood in your backyard or out in nature when a thunderstorm hits and the thunder feels like it is inside and outside of you as it wraps you in it's vibratory force; as your body feels the apprehension of it's own possible destruction, the potential danger and the mortality of your being and yet you also feel the surge of that ENERGY, that vibratory force resonate through the heart of your soul and spirit; then awe and reverence for the gift of life floods your being with the knowledge of how short our time is and how we need to quit acting like we will live forever and start following the path with heart. FEAR and COURAGE are ONE in that state of being, awakening us to the awesomeness and the fragility of what we call "our life". By Peter Hill, Copyright 2004 www.getittogether.net Week 29>> |