The Chosen Path Substack
The Chosen Path Podcast on Substack
Change is in our DNA. So why do we fear it?
0:00
-13:10

Change is in our DNA. So why do we fear it?

Do you start your day with a slug of anxiety? There is a reason. And a cure.

As rare, self-organizing systems, our wonderful and amazing bodies have about 30 trillion cells.  Did you know that every single second of each day, we create nearly 2 million new ones? 

Moreover, every single second, there are estimated to be over a billion independent chemical reactions occurring inside each of these cells. Each of which is designed to perform a specific task as the result of something else occurring inside the cell or elsewhere in your body.   Did you know that we regenerate virtually our entire body every 7-10 years?

The splendor of all of this happening in a tightly choreographed symphony which not only keeps us alive, but allows us to remain who we uniquely and individually are throughout this process is astounding.

If ever there was proof of a higher, more expansive consciousness underlying everything, this might be it. Especially since the human brain isn’t able to direct even a small portion of what is occurring each moment in every one of us.

If the rarity of all of this hits you, as it does me, you may be led to a question. “Is there a purpose in our conscious existence?

Change and growth is quite literally written into our DNA. So why do we fear it so?

Keep in mind that fear…as we know it today…could easily be expressed as a ‘false emotion’ or perhaps ‘mis-used’.  Fear, according to the NIH is a bio-chemically generated response to an adverse stimulation that is current or imminent.

In our modern society, we experience fear the same way as our ancestors 50 or 500 generations ago experienced it.  But today most of us are not about to be eaten by a bear.  We don’t rise to find that our food cache has been raided and stolen just as the first snow is falling.  Today, it’s more like the Internet going down 10 minutes before your big virtual presentation or someone from HR has joined your boss for an unexpected one on one.

On occasion, we do have reason to be scared.  Fear, like pain. It has gradients.  But today, we don’t examine our fear, we don’t question it.  So, it seems to come in just one flavor.

Believe it or not, fear can be addictive.  Here are a few things you need to know about fear.

Fear is physical.  While it is experienced in your mind, your body generates a number of stress hormones that put you into a fight or flight mode.  Fear and stress are not meant to be constant, as it is for many of us today.

Fear can make you foggy.  It will change how you perceive things and the decisions you make.  Fear is designed to keep you safe.  To keep you alive.  Our world today and how we interact with it are not necessarily in alignment with this emotion.  Our ancient fear responses to modern stimulus are to some degree, round pegs in square holes.

Today, most of the fear we experience just out brains resisting change, but this ancient emotion is outsized for many of the problems each of us deals with today.  Start looking at fear a different way.  It heralds new opportunities for growth, expansion and happiness-if you let it.

Fear can trigger anxiety, which is managed in a different part of the brain, so it seems that both can exist simultaneously. Anxiety is essentially a sustained version of fear and is tied to some ‘potential’ adverse event occurring in the future. Note the words ‘potential’ and ‘future’. Fear is triggered by an outside stimulus, while anxiety we manufacture ourselves. Regardless, fear and anxiety are all too common today.

Does fear and anxiety hinder growth and change? Do these two emotions form the walls of a prison that hold us firmly in place? Some believe this to be true. Anxiety is the result of some terrible calamity that might befall you. Fear is triggered by the thought of failure or loss of control. To avoid all of this, stick with what is.

I hold a different perspective. It is something I have studied extensively and have MORE than a little direct experience with, so I can and will speak with authority on the topic.

Anxiety and fear can be the direct result of NOT growing and changing. By staying put, rather than pushing, our fears of the terrible are never realized or experienced, so they remain theoretical.

Anyone who has jumped off a ledge into a body of water as a child or teen knows the paralyzing fear experienced prior to jumping the first time. The natural experience is nothing like what you manufactured. The reality is that it is your own thoughts which keep you trapped. And, it is being trapped that can cause anxiety and fear. Quite literally, it is the opposite of what we believe to be true. We live in a tug of war between living in a false reality we manufacture in our heads and the fear of leaving this box.

At least, this is my observation and opinion. Again, I have plenty of first hand experience.

Nature can never be inferior to the artificial.

-Marcus Aurelius

Consistent headwinds, friction and persistent difficulty in your daily life means that something is out of equilibrium. Something has gone bad and is spoiling. And, spoiled things have a way of disturbing everything surrounding them.

When we experience sustained friction and difficulty, this is nature’s way of telling us we should change direction. Anxiety is the emotional rumble strip that something is amiss and it’s time to address or change it.

You may choose to do something small but significant. Start journaling in the morning, remove a toxic person from your life or be of service in some new way. Or, it may mean you should be making more wholesale changes. What is right for you will resonate. The key is to recognize the issue and take action. You can reset your reality if you so choose. It just requires you to be intentional in your choices and actions.

Sure, whatever new things you chose to act on might be hard or unfamiliar, but that is spurring growth in you. Work to change your mood, your outlook and your energy will follow. And, with a little bit of time, consistency of effort and commitment you will reap the rewards of this growth and change.

You will also come to understand the terrible things your mind manufactures for you are nearly always an illusion.

As a friend of mine once told me, our minds are the greatest movie studios in existence. The fidelity of the fiction our minds create is so realistic, it is often mistaken for what is. And, once you start to believe the fiction, it quickly transforms into your reality. That’s when the headwinds and friction often shows up. To let you know you are wandering, drifting or even completely off track.

If you want to short circuit your fears and anxieties, re-write some of the scenes in the script that currently governs your life. Or perhaps, throw it out and write a new one more to your liking.

After all, what is the worst thing that can happen?

Discussion about this episode

User's avatar