Mindful in 5 Podcast

Why Banish Fear

August 08, 2021 Spiwe Jefferson Season 1 Episode 13
Mindful in 5 Podcast
Why Banish Fear
Show Notes Transcript

In this precursor to the 5-step technique in Episode 17 (5 Steps to Tame Fear), we ask the questions: is manifestation pseudo-science or is there more to it? Why does it matter to grapple with fearful thoughts? Can they really make a difference to what happens in our lives? If so, how can we apply mindfulness meditation to address it?

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Are you anxious, stressed, mind racing? Do you have trouble sleeping? Are you looking for secrets to peace and a happier life? Join Spiwe Jefferson, certified mindfulness practitioner and lawyer dedicated to helping you learn to apply mindfulness meditation to the personal and professional challenges of everyday life, Harness the power of mindfulness meditation to live and work to your highest and best purpose, starting with just five minutes a day. 

Well, hi there and welcome to Mindful in 5 where we learn how to apply mindfulness and meditation to the challenges of everyday life in bite- sized chunks for people with no time. My name is Spiwe Jefferson and today I'm going to tell you a story about fear. Once upon a time there was a man named Job.

00:01:12
Those of you who have been listening to this podcast know that it comes in two flavors, the classic edition, which is the secular edition and the God Lovers edition for people who want to invite God into their mindful meditative practice. So Job was a God lover. And if you're thinking, gosh, that name sounds familiar, I confess this is not an original story. It comes from my life manual, which happens to be the Holy Bible. The story also appears in the Tanakh, which is the Hebrew Bible and it might also appear in the Quran and some members of Team Classic may have also heard anecdotally of Job. Anyway, Job was a God lover and an upright pillar of his community. He was healthy, mostly happy and successful by material standards. He had a lovely wife. lots of crops. He had lots of livestock in the fields, hordes of servants and all the trappings of great wealth in his day, including 10 kids, which perhaps were an example of his great success.

00:02:26
I had a challenging enough time raising two amazing Children. I cannot imagine having 10. So for those of you who have big families, well, kudos to you. Back in Job's day, you were supposed to give animal sacrifices to God when you sinned or did or thought evil things. And don't look so surprised. We all have those thoughts and do all those things we're not so proud of. And unbeknownst to Job, God and satan had a conversation in which satan claimed Job was only devoted to God because God blessed him with all the stuff and God didn't think that was true. So God gave satan permission to test his theory. So in the course of what sounded like a very short time, the Serbians, a dastardly enemy tribe attacked and made off with Job's oxen and donkeys and killed his servants. A fire fell from the heavens and burned the sheep and the other servants.

00:03:31
The Guardian's another dastardly enemy tribe raided and made off with the camels and killed yet the other servants. Worst of all, a mighty wind struck his son's house where Job's 10 kids were partying and killed them all. Well, as you can imagine. Job was just beside himself with grief. He shaved his head among other things and tore his robe, which was a thing in this day and likely very good for the tailors. Well anyway, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth for poor old Job. For me, the most interesting thing about the story is how Job reflects on it. First he accepts the situation that he finds himself in and basically he says, you know, I came naked, I came into this world and naked, I will leave it, the Lord give it and the Lord take it away. But then even more interesting than that to me is when he says, "That which I feared greatly has come to pass", and that's what I wanted to talk to you about today.

00:04:45
What's the point of this story? Well, there are lots of different points among which is the notion that bad things can happen to good people and it's not even necessarily your fault when something bad happens. But the point here is that the Bible elsewhere says seek and you shall find, ask and you shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened. My favorite motivational speaker, the great Zig Ziglar says, you move towards the strongest impression in your mind. There are many books and publications that have been written about the power of manifestation and affirmation. The way I like to put it, is to say you attract, what you reflect. You attract what you reflect. Now, the Bible doesn't elaborate on Job's statement about that which he feared greatly having come to pass.

00:05:50
But I think it's telling. Taken in its literal sense, it suggests that Job was afraid of losing it all even though he had all that wealth and all the trappings of success and indeed he lost it all. Have you ever noticed that the things that you project tend to happen if you walk into an interview thinking I'm not qualified for this job, I don't belong here. You are much less likely to get the job. If you think you're going to screw up at child rearing, in romance, and life on the tennis court, on the balance beam, it is much more likely to happen. Some psychologists think the notion of manifestation is frankly pseudoscience but others suggest otherwise. Research by Dr. Carol Dweck demonstrates that you are more likely to succeed if you believe you can do something. Now you also have to take the action so you can't just wish and believe. But in other words, your growth mindset can lead you to manifest the outcome that you actually want.

00:06:59
Research also supports the notion of what we have for long, long years called self-fulfilling prophecy - that our positive or negative expectations tend to influence our outcomes. Your subconscious does not distinguish between good thoughts and bad thoughts. So the thoughts that you give energy to tend to be the ones that prevail and that's a problem for so many of us, isn't it? Because we tend to ruminate on the things we don't want. I don't want to fail. I don't want to be homeless, I don't want to lose my job or my beloved. And then like Job, we are shocked, stunned and dismayed when the very thing that we really didn't want comes to pass. So what do we do? Well, tune in for episode 13 titled 5 Steps to Address Fear in 2 weeks for a conclusion of this exploration.

00:08:02
In the meantime, use the 5-day 5-minute meditations delivered to your inbox. This week look at your life and see how often you expected something or spent a lot of energy ruminating on something negative you didn't want and it came to pass. If you don't already receive it, subscribe to the Mindful in 5 weekly email and you can do that in the notes for this show. Join me next week when my guest will be Scot and he will be sharing his 6 tools for coping. Until then, this is Spiwe saying, be mindful and be well. Thank you for listening to Mindful in 5. Join the Mindful in 5 community at www.mindfulin5.com to sign up for the weekly companion emails to this podcast which include a new guided meditation each month and 5-day 5-minute meditations to supercharge your journey towards inner peace and success. Visit the Instagram page @mindfulin5 or the Facebook page @spiwepublications.

00:09:15
Until next time, be mindful and be well.