How Do We Stand Up to Fear and Uncertainty Along Our Paths?

Genuine mindfulness lets us recognize fear and uncertainty and how to handle them on our paths.

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Fear takes many forms. Often, it’s disguised as uncertainty, trepidation, self-doubt, general doubt, brain weasels, and the like.

Fear isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It has served the human race well in protecting us from harm. But the things we needed fear to protect us from have changed. A lot.

We are no longer prey to anything but other human beings. Fear that protected us from tangible dangers has lessened considerably throughout history.

But fear has changed, not gone away. Now, fear and uncertainty are almost always about intangibles. Generally, not so much the consequences but the suffering that is possible.

Nobody desires to suffer. We all desire to be comfortable, content, and even happy. But fear that suffering will occur — particularly attached to uncertainty — unnerves many.

We need to recognize and acknowledge fear. However, many false narratives suggest instead fearlessness, ignoring fear, and otherwise disregarding it.

The truth is that we can’t. Really, we need fear. Because fear — even of the intangible — is still a…