Fear is the Main Source of Superstition-August 25, 2022

August 25, 20223 years atmnets 673 Views 0 Comments

Post Credit Written By LivingLifeFully

Today’s quotation:

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.-Bertrand Russell

Today’s Meditation:

I don’t like fear–it’s never been very friendly to me. There are some times when my fear has served me well, such as when it’s kept me from the edges of very high cliffs, but usually, my fear is just a pain in the neck, a source of negative motivation that keeps me from responding to certain situations in ways in which I’d like to respond to them. My fears have kept me from meeting really cool people, developing relationships and friendships, taking on new and potentially exciting challenges, and many other things.

Superstitions come about because people are afraid, and they use superstitions to keep themselves from doing things that they’re afraid of. How many mountains have been unexplored because they’re “haunted,” and how many people have been hurt because their differences made people afraid, so they were persecuted as “witches” or “sorcerers”? When I don’t understand you and thus fear you, it’s very easy for me to be cruel to you and treat you badly.

But even if I don’t understand you, I can still accept you and treat you well if I don’t fear you. Without fear as a motivator, my treatment of you can be just as humane and compassionate as my treatment of anyone else in my life. And you deserve my compassion because you’re a fellow human being here in this life with me.

If I want to be wise, I need to exercise my acceptance and compassion, and not allow my fear to affect the way I treat others. After all, I don’t see any reason why others would fear me, so why should I fear you?