Love Over Fear

One of my dear friends has recently fully realized what it means to choose love over fear, to make decisions based on the heart rather than on the sense of fight or flight. I am so grateful to her for sharing her story with me, and I am grateful for her presence in my life. She has reminded me of what I, too, strive for. When people have commented that we must learn to love rather than fear, I understand fully what they mean; what I have not always understood is how to go about this process of loving ever more while letting go of more and more fear.

In my own studies, I often think of the chakra system and its inter-workings with emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Each of the seven major chakras has an emotional resonance; the root chakra, Muladhara, is the seat of security and rootedness. The heart chakra, Anahata, is the seat of love. Each chakra, too, has an opposing emotional resonance, so that when the chakra is closed or out of balance, the negative emotion will begin to emanate from that space. An imbalance in Muladhara results in fear. An imbalance in Anahata results in grief.

It is just as important to investigate one's relationship to the root and resonance of fear and grief as it is to cultivate a sense of groundedness and love. It is the sense of security that allows people to feel safe enough to love, and it is insecurity which causes people to react with anger and defensiveness, which so often leads to grief. Why? Because anger is destructive, and destruction leads to a death of some sort. Usually this is not a physical death, and often death is necessary for something else to be reborn, but too much of this will inevitably result in grief.

So how does one cultivate the ability to act out of love rather than fear, to make choices that reflect an open heart and a stable root? One choice at a time, is an easy but vague answer. More practically, we must continually ask ourselves what is motivating our decisions. We must investigate how we physically feel when we are making choices. Does my chest feel heavy and stony? Do I feel panicked and unable to think straight? If so, I'm likely reacting in fear and with a closed heart. Conversely, if my chest feels open, light and I feel calm and steady, then I am moving from a space of love and fearlessness.

Someone wrote that love is letting go of fear, and I can see so clearly how this is so. The daily challenge is the letting go. Acknowledging fear, yet acting through love is the task. We may believe that fight or flight is our best method of self-preservation, but in most circumstances that we face today, love is the true method of survival. Fight or flight, the stress response, wreaks havoc on the body and mind, and what we send into the world returns to us. So loving more and more is our challenge as well as our salvation.