When a cat lets go of a tree, it lets go of itself

Fear has a strong physical component: the body pumps stress hormones, blood flows, muscles tense. The mind can become fuzzy and it can become difficult to think of anything but fear. Fear is the body’s protection to keep it alive, to keep its progeny and family alive. Fear is an animal instinct. When we experience fear, we hunker down, become singularly focused, we figuratively build walls and compounds for protection. Fear actually has a pleasure component – dopamine. That’s easy to see in those who just love the craziest roller-coaster. Dopamine helps explain how fear can become addictive, a more constant way we approach living. And constant fear is unhealthy - wearing on our bodies, impacting our hearts, our circulation, our weight, our mental acuity – just like most addictions. Compassion is also a natural expression of the human spirit. It is the deep understanding that we are in this together. Compassion takes more courage than fear. It’s a willingness to stand strong with hearts open. Malidoma Soma, an African shaman, once said, “compassion, love, caring is in fact a life that looks graphically like, a whole bunch of people holding hands together and walking towards a chasm, but singing, because they know, if they fall, all of them together, beauty is the only thing that can happen.” As we face the challenges of this time - the elections, the environment, the war and hatred - along with our personal challenges of health, loved ones, memories, economics, is it possible to face them with compassion for yourself and others? Are your thoughts based on fear or love and compassion? Look for contraction and tension in the body and mind. Smile. That alone will begin to break the fear addiction. Then watch for judgment and keep smiling.

The world just isn't the way we want it.

Dukkha is a Pali word that is usually translated as suffering. It covers a wide range of experiences from slight irritation through boredom to extreme cases of suffering. The Buddha, in his teachings, emphasized the cause of dukkha and the release from dukkha. One way to look at the cause of suffering is that we want this present moment to be different than it is and our thoughts about that desire become a story. Our stories of what did happen, what is happening and what we want to happen color the present moment; the stories color reality; they color our true heart. We aren’t present. If something is beautiful, we may not appreciate it fully. If something is hurtful or unpleasant, we react from emotion and memory instead of moving towards what we value in life. We believe most of our thoughts and stories and aren’t even aware of how often we think of them. We are so addicted to thinking that we don’t even know when we are doing it. And we are causing ourselves suffering each time! My suggestion? What worked for me was super sticky Post-It notes all through the house that say, “STOP YOUR THOUGHTS NOW”. Trust the possibility that the thoughts will lessen. As they do, the mind isn’t so full. Our hearts can arise to see and lead us into new ways of interacting with the world. Meditation helps, not only the formal practice but an informal practice every waking moment. Stop, breathe, continue - and notice the thoughts stopped.