I am sorry for missing this week’s epistle, but until today I had little to offer.

Today I received an email from  Mr James Mapes, author of  Quantum Leap Thinking.   This gentleman delivers to us the premise “You Are What You Think“.  I have included the text from his free monthly newletter below. If this appeals to you, I highly recommend subscribing to it by sending an email to QLT Subscription

“Strategies for Living an Exceptional Life” #103

By James Mapes

Refuse to Fear the Unknown

“It’s fear of the unknown. The unknown is what it is. And to
be frightened of it is what sends everybody scurrying around
chasing dreams, illusion, wars, peace, love, hate, all that –
it’s an illusion. Unknown is what it is. Accept that it’s
unknown and it’s plain sailing. Everything is unknown – then
you’re ahead of the game. That’s what it is. Right?” -John
Lennon, English singer and songwriter

How do you feel about what the New Year will bring? How you
answer that question is a good indictor about how you view
your possibilities and live your life.

For many of us, there is one deeply embedded fear that
prevents us from taking control of our lives, blocks us from
letting go of old, outdated, cumbersome beliefs and inhibits
us from shaping our future in a positive, proactive way. It
is the one fear that keeps us average, penned in, restricted
and doing the same things that everyone else is doing in the
same way simply because it’s comfortable and familiar. Most
of us don’t deal well with ambiguity.

This fear is the fear of the unknown and it is pervasive in
our society. We even have superstitious sayings to reinforce
this fear: “Ignorance is bliss”, “Curiosity killed the cat”
or, “Better safe than sorry.”

And when the fear of the unknown becomes widespread, it can do
untold damage. The philosopher and writer, Bertrand Russell
summed it up concisely when he wrote, “Collective fear
stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity toward
those who are not regarded as members of the herd.”

Of course, the present circumstances of our bleak financial
outlook, the fact that we are involved in fighting two wars
and our pervasive concern about terrorism on the home front
fuels this fear. Indeed, fear of the unknown can be seen in
the everyday actions we take or don’t take.

I’m sure you are familiar with the feeling that manifests
itself in anxiety, stomach flutters or a stiff tightness in
neck and shoulders – that vague, indefinable discomfort that
happens when you get close to the edge of familiarity. It’s
that internal, often malevolent voice in your head that shouts
“Danger!” which is often misinterpreted as a red flag to doom.

You recognize that voice, don’t you?

There is a part of your mind, known as the subconscious, which
is designed for one single purpose – to keep you safe. This
part of your mind has been trained to identify what is benign
and what is dangerous. Not only is this `early warning
system’ embedded in our genes, reinforcement conditioning
takes place in childhood. Perhaps when you wandered too far
from your parents and were reprimanded. Or maybe you were
chastised because you stood to close to edge of a cliff,
talked to a stranger or touched a hot stove. Whatever your
experience, you learned what was safe and what was dangerous,
even if it wasn’t. The fear from those warnings stuck like
glue.

And that’s the problem – the conditioning, the learning, the
programming may be a little out of whack with reality. The
truth is that what you picked up and internalized on the
meandering path to adulthood probably goes like this: “If
it’s familiar and comfortable, it’s good. If it’s unfamiliar,
it’s bad. So trust the things you know.”

This presents a bit of a challenge, especially when you
realize that fear of the unknown refers to fears that are
based on absolutely nothing. In fact, fear of the unknown is
about the future – a projection into the future – based on
circumstances that you’ve encountered in the past. Since the
world is changing with lightening speed, it isn’t logical that
the future will be like the past unless – you make it so.

It’s important that you realize and internalize the knowledge
that fear of the unknown is based on past experiences, not on
those things that you have not yet encountered. If you accept
this truth, you will know that the fear of the unknown is
based on a lie – a false perception. It’s based on what has
been – not what will or can be. In others words, you need to
get real to be free.

The good news is that you can manage your fear by learning to
manage your mind. You can actually overcome this fear through
– believe it or not – rational thinking. When you steadfastly
choose to confront and examine your fears, you can almost
always resolve them or at the least ameliorate their hold over
you.

According to neuroscientist Gregory Berns, the deeply
ingrained biological aversion to ambiguity comes straight from
the fear of the unknown. In his book “Iconoclast,” Berns
shows that fear, this limiter of potential and creativity, can
be held in check. How? By learning to convert ambiguity into
risk by reappraisal. It is when we reappraise that we can
view ambiguity as an opportunity for gaining knowledge, and it
is by gathering information and learning that we are able to
see possibility instead of doom. This requires a shift in
your thinking about the future.

Here are several tips on how to mute the fear of the unknown:

– If you are feeling fear, there is some sort of risk involved
with what you are doing or desire to do. Your job is to
convert ambiguity into risk by defining specific goals for the
future. That’s the way to harness your stress and convert it
into positive energy and opportunity.

– List two specific short-term and two long-term goals you
would like to accomplish during this New Year. Do something
out of your comfort zone, something you’ve only dreamed of
doing. Break your routine.

– Write down the risks involved with pursuing your goals.

– Learn, learn and learn some more! Learn everything you can
about the circumstances, the arena in which you will be
involved. Learn about the people with whom you will be dealing
with. Study the niche you want to fill. Learn about the
stock market. Learn about your competitors. Learning always
reduces fear.

– Trust yourself! Once you have learned what you need, you
can make an informed decision. If you can handle the risk,
take it, let go and trust yourself.

– Reach out! You aren’t the first or the last to fear the
unknown. Seek advice. Ask for help from someone who has been
down the same or similar road as you. Others have overcome
their fear and achieved success. Learn from them.

Fear of the unknown is the best opportunity you will ever have
to discover something new. Perhaps it’s time to reflect on
the words of the Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher, Marcus
Aurelius (ad 161-180): ” If you are distressed by anything
external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your
estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any
moment.”

Make the unknown, known – and have a great year!

***

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