{"id":279,"date":"2010-02-01T17:04:43","date_gmt":"2010-02-01T22:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karencasey.wordpress.com\/?p=279"},"modified":"2010-02-01T17:04:43","modified_gmt":"2010-02-01T22:04:43","slug":"the-opportunity-to-express-love-or-experience-fear-is-always-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=279","title":{"rendered":"The opportunity to express love or experience fear is always with us."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>IF IT ISN\u2019T LOVE, IT\u2019S ALWAYS FEAR<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>I was first introduced to this idea as I timidly began my spiritual quest in the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0 This concept, along with so many others woven into the many and varied books I was reading, broadened my perspective on how to experience life and the many relationships I seemed to be \u201cinviting along for the ride.\u201d\u00a0 Becoming a student of myriad spiritual ideas offered me a deeper layer of understanding about every life that was touching mine, an understanding that complimented my early journey in the rooms of AA and Al-Anon.<\/p>\n<p>Interpreting the actions of others, or trying to, had long been my primary focus, even in childhood.\u00a0 Of course this meant I was never primarily engaged in my <strong>own<\/strong> life.\u00a0 I was an extension of you and your life!\u00a0 If you were happy, so was I.\u00a0 If you noticed me, I was relieved and felt important.\u00a0 If you were mad or sad or distant, I felt responsible and unworthy.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I am alone <em>in this way of being and seeing<\/em>.\u00a0 I have met too many others who struggle just as I struggled for many years to find a more peaceful, less <strong><em>attached<\/em><\/strong> way to live.\u00a0 Fortunately, we can now be the way showers for each other.\u00a0 In fact, that\u2019s why we are on a path with so many who are like us in certain ways, people who are moving to a new way of seeing.\u00a0 We have sought each other out.\u00a0 Even though we may not have not realized it, that has been the case.<\/p>\n<p>Coming to see that any one\u2019s actions or words are an expression of either love or fear, <em>their love or their fear<\/em>, and not related in any definable way to me or any one else present, has been a relief and a remarkable awareness, one I am prone to occasionally forget.\u00a0 There can be no lasting peace in any person\u2019s life if her every mood or action is tied directly to the moods and actions of others.\u00a0 Even though I speak from personal experience here, I hold that the same dynamic is true for many individuals, many neighboring communities, and even countries at war.<\/p>\n<p>Decisions are made every day based on the misinterpretations of the actions of others.\u00a0 Knowing this is the first necessary step to perceiving differently.\u00a0 And perceiving differently opens the door to behaving differently too.\u00a0 If we are prone to being fearful, our actions will be defensive or aggressive or perhaps we will withdraw.\u00a0 But we can make another choice.\u00a0 Having hope that change can happen in one\u2019s own life is the stimulus to knowing that change can happen any where.\u00a0 As I said many times already, we are the way showers.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an accident that we are sharing this information at this time.\u00a0 We have work to do.\u00a0<em>For the next few days I will be conscious of how fear, my own or another\u2019s, is playing out in our lives.\u00a0 I will seek signs of love too.\u00a0 Both expressions are evident every where.\u00a0 Meeting an expression of fear with understanding or compassion or love, will have an impact that goes far beyond that moment.\u00a0 There is joy in knowing we have work to do that\u2019s worthy.\u00a0 One moment at a time.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IF IT ISN\u2019T LOVE, IT\u2019S ALWAYS FEAR. I was first introduced to this idea as I timidly began my spiritual quest in the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0 This concept, along with so many others woven into the many and varied books I was reading, broadened my perspective on how to experience life and the many relationships I seemed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[29,81,84,138],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-what-i-believe-you-and-your-higher-power","tag-attachment","tag-fear","tag-fellow-travelers","tag-loving-thoughts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The opportunity to express love or experience fear is always with us. | Karen Casey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=279\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The opportunity to express love or experience fear is always with us. | Karen Casey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IF IT ISN\u2019T LOVE, IT\u2019S ALWAYS FEAR. 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