So here’s a fear tip that works for me. I am happy to share it with you.  I have long known that fear is something we all feel, something we all share. It binds all of us together.

When I look at the news and see angry people shouting, I know there is fear behind the rage, I can feel it and smell it.

Being frightened does not mean we are weak or ill, speaking the truth about fear – and to fear – is the path for me to a truly spiritual life and health.  It is the very definition of strength.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is a choice.

A good woman wrote to me yesterday to say she is sorry that I feel fear, and I told her what I felt. Please don’t be sorry for me; I am not sorry for myself. Fear is as common as breathing. I am sure she knows fear herself.

Talking about it is liberating and healing. Being open about fear is something for me to rejoice about, not for anyone to pity. It is a sign of good health.

If I felt sorry for all the fear in human beings, I would drown in sorrow.

We hide our fear just as we hide from death. My challenge is to understand and live well with both.

I practice being with fear whenever it arrises at any time of the day, any day of the week. I learned this technique from the study of Radical Acceptance.

Using my breath, I allow myself to touch the sensations of fear, and then by exhaling, I let it go, out of me and into the ether, into the openness.

In this way, fear and the intense energy of fear is not trapped or hidden to fester inside of me.

I do not bury it any longer, which gives it a place to live inside of me, a place for it to hide.

I open the door and invite it in.

Instead of enabling and reinforcing a fearful self, instead of running from life or reality, I become increasingly at peace, more confident, more available to live, and feel a full and meaningful life.

I hope this is helpful to people.