Love and fear are like oil and water.

Think of the news programs and entertainment on television. Think of the action-packed and suspense-filled movies in the theaters. Think of advertisements. Think of taxes, bank accounts, threats of economic disaster. Your job, your boss, the customers. Think about religion and God – do you tense up when you think you might be less than perfect?

Notice how fear permeates the media. And notice how it affects you in a very personal way…

Fear. Anger. Adrenalin. Difficulty breathing. It’s hard to think straight. You blush, you flush, your heart races, your muscles contract, you pound and kick and run around yelling. Or you might grit your teeth, button your lip, hold it in and literally bust a gut or get high blood pressure. You can hardly breathe. Someone or something else was in control; you were hurt; now you need to control. You know this isn’t the real you. That, my friends, is fear. Or you could say it’s hell. Fear brings out the worst in people.

Love. When you feel love, on the other hand, you breathe fully and freely and deeply. You feel tenderness in your heart area in a good way. You feel full, open and relaxed. Your face smiles – seemingly for no reason other than you feel good. You have no desire to control because you are safe and you respect the autonomy of others. You are able to think clearly, calmly, logically, rationally. You know deep down that all is well… and that, my friends, is Love. Or you could say it’s a little bit of heaven on earth.

If it’s not Love, it’s fear.

Many things are sold to the American people by appealing to our kind, gentle, generous side. But under the appeal to “love” you can often find an underbelly of “fear”. Get in the habit of analyzing your thoughts, attitudes and events so that you readily identify which things are love and which are fear. The fear can shift to love sometimes, simply by noticing it’s there. Recognition is the first step to undoing fear.

“All healing is essentially the release from fear.”