Today while cleaning our the horse trough, I noticed quite a big beetle floating on top of the water. I used my hand to fish it out. It stuck to my fingers like glue. I immediately felt a bit panicked at the sensation of the beetles legs cling to my fingers. At that point I realised that it was imagined fear. I imagined that the beetle was going to bite me and the pain that might come with it. I thought the beetle would never let go of my fingers. I wished I had used a stick to fetch the beetle out. I tried to coax it onto the wooden post at which it felt like the beetle dug into my fingers. Then I just stopped and took a breath. The beetle stopped too. It was no longer threatened. I continued to fill up the troughs while letting the beetle dry out on my fingers. Once that job was finished I looked at the beetle. I looked at it's colour, it's head and legs and realised how beautiful this beetle was. The fear had completely diminished and in it's place was a kind of awe and beauty. I fetched a leaf and coaxed the beetle onto it. It happily moved to the leave and I was able to gently put it back onto the ground. The sensation of the beetles legs moving no longer contained any fear from me. Something so simple made me think how our imagined fear can set us up for panic. I could of swiped at the beetle which did cross my mind. However by not reacting with panic and observing the situation I was able to calmly remove the beetle and keep my fingers intact. I was able through clear thinking and observation stop the panicked feeling that was rising up inside me. I changed my thoughts and changed the outcome to non fear. While at times we do need fear to keep us safe, a lot of times we apply fear with out thought and make a situation worse than what it really is. The next time you feel a fear rising, observe if it is a real emergency or imagined fear. Your outcome may change for the better and your body will thank you for not getting in the flight and fight mode unnecessarily.
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