1 Tip to Build a Solid & Sustainable Foundation for your Mental Health

FACE YOUR FEARS!

Our body has evolved in Jungles as foragers. It did not evolve in AC Rooms, with state-of-the-art security systems.

Have you ever heard people living in remote villages, in the forest, and in the natural lifestyle have constant panic attacks? They don’t have a choice to not face their immediate natural fears. Staying close to nature, it is my observation, people are more aware & a little less detached. They are more practical.

Your body doesn’t know the difference between a glare from your boss or a tiger lurking in the shadows, steadying up to pounce on you, break your neck & eat you while you may be, are still breathing.

Let’s take another example. 10000 years ago when we were a foragers & would travel from place to place in the wild for food, water & shelter, if we are heavily injured and cannot walk, our group may wait for some time but not long before they would leave us behind, injured, and with no food or water. Naturally our immediate known fears of a predatory attack, snake bites, or slow death due to starvation, dehydration & loss of blood would start to consume us.

So, what does the body understand when someone is threatening you to leave, or your office is thinking of laying you off; you are losing money in stocks, or you are losing clients?

Fear of a painful death.

Why do you think people are scared of loneliness so much that they go into depression?

Research shows animals in zoos & aquariums & circuses after a few years go into depression.

This primitive fear of painfully dying alone causes severe depression, where in those animals are fed, hydrated & taken care of, but they are lonely. They aren’t communicating naturally & are not in their natural safe environment.

Let’s come back to us, HUMANS.
(Please don’t support zoos & aquariums by never visiting them, it’s unhealthy for animals.)

What is this Face your Fear really?

Let me break it down for you. As per the above, well-researched analogy (as per evolutionary psychology), to not go through this fear of being abandoned in any aspect of your life you are choosing what is not convenient for you.

If you are not facing your fears then what are you facing?
(There is no option of not facing, if you are alive you are facing something.)

Here, you are facing being fearful. To not face a particular fear, you are CHOOSING to go against your nature & facing multiple mini fears, discomfort & pain. Suppression & Repression, that eventually becomes the your constant SHADOW.

What are you training yourself daily for?

Operating from fear & cowering low.

What is the message you are passing to others?

To control me all you have to do is scare me.

By threatening to –

• Abandon me
• Lay me off
• Take my kids away from me
• Threaten my family
• Taking my money away
• Spreading rumors about me
• Going to any lengths that will keep me in your control

My friend, even you have knowingly or unknowingly used this tactic to get work out of another human.

-Remember school? Have you ever said to your best friend – If you don’t do this, I won’t talk to you?” –Or your partner – “I don’t think you love me enough, this was such a small request that you couldn’t fulfill.”
-To your kids, “If you get good marks, or win that debate or race, I will buy you the latest iPad, or a new Mobile, or will take you for a vacation.”
-To your parents – throwing tantrums to get your work done.

See how we all are the same? And wired pretty similarly?

Thus, what you are not choosing, you are by default choosing the opposite of it. But all along it is you who is making that choice. Every single moment. The only 1 tip, as your friend and a fellow human who shares this planet with you and every other animal & plant, I can give you is to FACE YOUR FEARS; daily. All of them, within reasons of course. If you are scared of a tiger you mustn’t go face the animal physically, its a legit fear, that protects you.

Choose faith over fear. Courage over confusion & build your nervous system to be resilient when you need it the most, in the face of discomfort & hurt. Stand up, and from now on your response should be you cannot be scared by anything or anyone. A bully is a bully till you decide to face them & call out on them.

Good Luck!

Here is a Guided Meditation to kickstart your practice.