Wild like deer, we run from threats. Frantic and terrified we scatter and flee. Panicked in the face of our own mortality, we hide from this truth.
Most of the time we feel mildly safe. Then something happens to unbalance our equilibrium. We feel frightened and in danger. Most of the time the danger is only in our mind.
Rarely do we face a life or death situation.
Oh, we face unsettling, disagreeable moments all the time, but they are merely uncomfortable - not life threatening. Confronted with annoyances, large and small, we react with alarm - unaware that this is what we are doing.
Our mind jumps in and explains, justifies and creates a story to backup our reactions.
Our mind does this to ‘protect’ us from pain. Unfortunately, this protection creates suffering and the suffering leads to frenzy and addiction.
Our panic is hidden behind socially acceptable behaviors. Our panic is hidden behind our socially acceptable addictions. Our addictions - to talking, to a few drinks, to lots of junk food, to technology, to our stories, to our habits - are an attempt to comfort our dread. Our panic when we touch the truth of our fragility, our death, leads to a living death.
When we do the same thing over and over hoping we will get a different result, it coms from panic.
When we avoid distress with self defeating behaviors, it comes from panic.
When we try to change another because we do not like their actions, it comes from panic.
When we try to escape the present moment, it comes from panic.
Wild like deer we avoid our panic. Yet, we are not wild like deer.
We have the ability to jump in and be with our dread without reacting to it. In this moment of panic, we can find clarity, if we sit with what is.
If we feel the discomfort, we can calm it.
If we feel the dread, we can calm it.
If we feel the panic, we can let it move through us, it will pass.
Being in the panic, being with the truth of our fragility - we learn to comfort ourselves and experience our distress without reacting to it.
Now don’t panic - learning to live with our fears is a beautifully difficult and uncomfortable process. It is a process. It takes lots of practice to learn to live with the panic and displeasure.
Enjoy practicing next time the panic arises. For it will.
This, being fully present to all that arises, is the path to peace.
