We are so afraid of suffering that we suffer. Or, as Peter Russell explains, “We have lost the very thing we seek.”

Fear rarely exists in the present moment. There are perhaps only a few moments in our lives when we are in legitimate danger, yet each day we allow fear to persist as a normal part of our thought processes. In some cases, ironically, it is our desperate need to escape the suffering of worried thoughts that drives us to do things that are dangerous (extreme sports, drug abuse, creating conflict and fights, etc.). By making fear real, we are creating real reasons to fear.

We fear because our minds cannot foresee the future. Reality is far too complex to be fully grasped by the mind. There are too many variables—most of which are out of our control. Deep down, we know this but cannot accept it. This is what causes the fear, the worries, the urge to hide from reality, and the desperate and ineffective attempts to interfere with rather than accept reality.

But life doesn’t have to suck! We can learn to stop taking our worries about the future so seriously. The antidote to fear and the solution to any problem is perfect love—which is practiced when we meet the present moment with full attention and acceptance. We need only do our best each day, become open and willing to accept reality without judgments of good and bad, and then react lovingly. Follow the signs, let intuition lead rather than the mind. Try this and you will find that things tend to work out.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

We continue tomorrow and each day after that.