Happiness: To Resolve Distress, Don't Engage The Story

When your mind is gripped with worry and fear, what’s the best way to resolve it?

I find that engaging the story, however compelling, only serves to tighten one’s grip on the fear.  There are many common stories and lots of people who will confirm your story.  They can therefore seem “real,” but are they?  Does it really matter what story you say is causing your fear?  And does it matter if others confirm and validate those fears?  If they do, then you have more excuse to keep holding onto them.

What if instead we just accept that this is our experience and it will pass.  Lately I’ll be attacked by fear – and that’s how it feels, an attack (I believe these recent ones truly are energetic attacks, but you don’t have to accept that belief to benefit from this) and just tell myself “I’m being attacked, don’t engage.  It will pass.”  And it does.

Without exception, that “thing” I believed was “important” only felt important because this fear emotion was running through my body. So I began to just accept – I’m feeling fear or anxiety, like I’ve caught a cold. And sure enough, it goes away.

The more I practice this, the less I worry over time and the fewer things I find are truly “important” and need to be done.  Conversely, the few things that require attention are actually much easier to do, because my mind is clear, instead of holding onto useless thoughts.

When faced with these emotional charges, I ask – “Is this this something that actually affects me?”  And I ask “Is this something that is actually occurring now?”  The first question weeds out the external events that are not my problem, and often not anywhere near my reality.  The second question weeds out the thoughts focused on past events or future possibilities.  Those two questions refocus my mind and often eliminate a lot of stress and worry right away.

I add another question on top of these, specific to my experience – “Is this an energetic attack?”  I can pendulum test or go with my internal sense.  If it is an attack, I can then take measures to block the attack and the emotional problem often goes away.

Last night I had a nightmare that was an energetic attack.  It was pretty sneaky – the dream began with someone trying to come after me that I didn’t think was much of a threat and was successfully avoiding pretty easily.  But as the dream progressed, he indicated that he was holding back his powers and toying with me, and that he could turn me over at any time to much more powerful forces that would torment and destroy me easily.  I still sensed he was bluffing, but was becoming increasingly worried. 

I woke up and determined it was an energetic attack.  I created, with the archetypes, a protection shield from this person and the forces he claimed to have access to, protecting myself and my family from them.  After that the fear went straight away and I slept great with good dreams. I found this to be effective in other situations where I was being tormented with seemingly irrational fears – defend against the attack and they go away. 

Before I used to try and search for meaning or dig into the “deeper issue” and nothing would ever resolve.  I’d just find more negative emotions and triggers.  And in the end that’s just accessing earlier chapters in my Book of Personal Stories.  It’s no more real than any other thought.  We spend a lot of time reliving these stories, telling ourselves we’re being “curious,” but it’s just mental and emotional masturbation and doesn’t accomplish anything.

If one truly wants to be free of suffering, worry, fear and stress, one simply needs to connect to the stillness of truth, of presence.  That’s it.  Stop holding onto the object that’s triggering pain – it’s not happening now, it’s not happening to you right now, it’s not real, let it go.  Obviously the concept is simple but the practice is more difficult.  But it the only thing that does work.

As I alluded to, there are ways to amplify this process and clear out the bad programming and energetic junk, but the process is still based on this simple truth:  if we want to be happy, it’s a matter of not choosing to hold onto suffering.