Most of us approach life based on fear.

We lock the doors for fear of a robbery or invasion.  We buy insurance for fear of illness or accident.  We work hard to save money for a rainy day so we don’t end up poor and on the streets. We have so much fear that we don’t even notice it.  You’d be amazed if you took a moment to jot down just some of your fears.

Fear is a constrictor.  It paralyzes us from insight and action.  It cuts off options and blinds us to possibilities. When we are guided by fear, the world is a scary place.  When you see the world thorough a filter of fear, you justify each of your preventative steps and validate your fear through the people and events that you attract.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously quoted from his inaugural address “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

According to the book of John, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

By fearing, we create that which we fear.

Can we choose a different approach to life?  One with no fear?  Maybe just during this holiday season?  How about just a step at a time with a little less fear.

I think so.  Can you?