~ THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER ~
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"I must not fear. Fear is the
mind-killer. Fear is the little-death
that brings total obliteration. I will
face my fear. I will permit it to pass
over me and through me. And when it has
gone past I will turn the inner eye to
see its path. Where the fear has gone
there will be nothing. Only I will
remain."
Frank Herbert, Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, Dune
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Recently in our meeting room we had a
new 'member’. He was HUGE - well, we
thought so, but who are we to judge? He
was hairy, well maybe we’re not
perfect...He strode into the room like
he owned the place. Well certainly he
had as much right to be there as we all
did.
We shrieked. Maybe it was those 8 hairy
legs, maybe it’s because he ran towards
us like a streak of lightening, who
knows.
Whatever he must have thought watching
us giants leaping around the room we can
only guess. He certainly seemed far more
scared of us than we of him. It got me
thinking of the insanity of some
fears. After all what could this fragile
little hairy thing do to me? He didn’t
have 8 giant slippers to hit ME on the
head. I was the one with the power, yet,
through my fear I was giving HIM the
power he really didn’t have. Instead of
using the Power to give myself more
confidence and behave rationally, I was
wasting it away, GIVING it away. So many
times I seem to repeat this same
pattern. Of course some fears are
rational, but most aren’t.
This program gives ME the freedom to ask
my Higher Power to take away my
shortcomings. To relax and step back and
make a fresh start. I need never be
afraid again of irrational things, not
if I truly work the program.
Itsy Bitsy Spider scuttled out of the
meeting in rather a hurry that
night. Was he trying to avoid
participating in the 7th Tradition? Or
did he have a genuine rational fear?
Maybe he was quite simply restored to
sanity.
ONE DAY AT A TIME . . .
I will not be afraid ... I will not empower anything to cause me to be fearful.