Who is the big bad wolf anyway?

We probably all know the story of the Three Little Pigs who were afraid of the big bad wolf. Each set out to build a home of their own. But when the wolf blew down the houses of the first two little pigs, they ran to their brother for help and shelter. As the three worked together to over come their fear the wolf was eventually sent packing. You can read a psychological synopsis of the story on the internet but I want to look at a slightly different idea.

Today I have been reading Chapter 19 of the Master Key again which is all about fear and what it can do. Here is what Charles Haanel has to say,

“Fear is a powerful form of thought. It paralyses the nerve centers, thus affecting the circulation of the blood. This, in turn, paralyses the muscular system, so that fear affects the entire being, body, brain and nerve, physical, mental and muscular.” ……… Ouch!!

Now, suppose the big bad wolf is not a separate physical entity, but more a small thought. We have come to understand through the Master Key Course that thought is a form of energy. And we have the power to direct our thoughts in what ever direction we choose. So why do so many of us focus our thought energy on things that worry us, or cause fear? I know used to do it all the time.

How many times have you really wanted to do something …….maybe sky diving, bungee jumping or white water rafting……. (a little extreme maybe but it illustrates the point) only to find the fear of doing it too overwhelming, and so you walked away. But ‘inside’ feeling a bit of a chicken?!!

It is through knowledge that we begin to gain power over our thoughts, which cause feelings, and one of the squillions of things I have learnt through following the MKMMA is that thought must have a vital principle. In other words the thing that gives life and vitality to anything is truth, and a negative thought or condition is just the absence of truth. Just like walking into a dark room, when you switch on the light the darkness is gone. You don’t walk into a light room and expect to turn on a darkness switch! To block out the light you have to draw curtains and blinds.

So where am I going with this? (Don’t you just love writing and seeing what comes out 🙂 )  If someone had told me 2 years ago that I would be where I am today, walking away from a 16 year teaching position in a school I love, going to Kauai and running my own courses to help people reignite their own creative spirit, I would have put money on it that they were wrong. The fear in my mind was holding me back from changing what I was accustomed to, to becoming the person I knew I was inside. We have learnt that thoughts release peptides (which we become addicted to), and it takes effort and hard work to create new neural pathways and new peptides. But once you start to reverse the ‘damage’ you find yourself feeling stronger, and less likely to sabotage your own life.

“Don’t give in to your fears,” said the alchemist, in a strangely gentle voice. “If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.” (The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho)

I have come to understand that children have a zest for life because they are always learning something new. Change creates growth and it is only through growth that we live. If a living organism is no longer growing then nature tells us it must be dying. Fear prevents us from growing and that empty, miserable, stuck feeling we get in the pit of our stomach is your own spirit crying out to you to change, to grow as a person. Face your fears, and when you do, the feeling is wonderful, exhilarating and fun! Who needs bungee jumping to feel alive? I don’t 🙂

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” (The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho)