Fear and faith, the opposing faces of the same coin

When faith in our abilities starts eroding, fear rushes in to fill the void.

Fear being an abstract concept, it can attach itself to our thoughts and turn our imagined scenarios into catastrophes. 

We start to believe and surrender to the images of doom that our minds churn out. 

Sometimes, to mitigate the effect of these invisible daemons, we run away and reach for distractions, alcohol, or any type of entertainment.

We hope that these unwanted visitors would simply vanish. This avoidance behavior allows them to multiply, growing stronger  because we are trying to make them go away by just ignoring them. 

Other times, we fight our thoughts, we resist them, we thrash and roll in our bed and flail our arms. We think that resistance will scare then away. We end up exhausted, staring at a force that was never our enemy to begin with.

The solution is simple. We need to stop avoiding, resisting and fighting. 

Relaxing into the stream of life while being fully aware our thoughts, and letting the current carry us instead of struggling against it.

This is not a act of weakness or defeat, it shows a deep understanding of how life actually works. Thoughts are temporary, when we stop wrestling with them, we stop feeding them and they lose their power completely. 

When we let a thought drift by like a cloud, it becomes harmless. 

The toddler quiets down when we stop chasing it. The river carries us gently when we stop resisting its current. 

Faith is what we need, it replaces the need to control with the power of trust. 

We need to trust the benevolence that is all around us. A wound heals on its own, food grows without our help, air fills our lungs without any conscious effort.  

This intelligence orchestrates forests and manages seasons. Our thoughts are not the problem, our relationship with them is. 

When we understand that they are just passing clouds, we can sit still and let them vanish on their own, leaving us with a clear blue sky. 

Stillness in faith, not avoidance or resistance, allows us to set foot on the unshakeable ground beneath the chaos. 

Faith is the ultimate fear's antidote.