"Being Fearless Among the Fearful"

—from "Fearless Future" - Epilogue

Years ago, I signed up for a year of law school. Looking back upon the experience, I would now define it as a totally unremarkable, free-will choice that I made at a directionless time in my life. I achieved so-so grades, I did not meet anyone with whom I stayed in contact, and found the reading and reporting of legal cases to be a tedious waste of time. I also had to contend with an annoying distraction from deceased plaintiffs and defendants who would contact me during class discussions to telepathically communicate their side of a case.

With each approaching midterm and final, I remember feeling a contagious hysteria that spread like smoke through hallways. It was spawned from a fear of being unprepared. Frantic whispers in the elevators made me nervous: “Get Barons for torts!” or “You’ll nail contracts with . . . ”

Rather than a benevolent gesture to reach out and help others, it seemed to be more an attempt to appear to have the inside scoop on how to cinch exams. Competition for future internships prevented that kind of altruism.

People do strange things when trapped in the contracting emotion of fear. Once you observe yourself in a moment of fear, then try to identify the fear, embrace it (rather than deny or run from it) and shift to a feeling of gratitude—for anything that you can think of at the time. You will immediately find yourself out of fear and back to center, where you can sense more clearly and make more responsible choices.

When you find yourself among the fearful, you may need to show others how to rise above the herd and take the high road. When I do this, simply taking that action releases me from feeling condemnation for the ridiculous way others might be acting.

The next time you see others . . .

Cut in front of you in line—fearing that they’ll be last or left behind—let them go ahead of you. Show them how to be courteous. This happened to me recently in Israel.

I was standing up to get off a bus when a woman shoved ahead of me, nearly knocking me back down into my seat. I stood back up, assuming that her husband, behind her, would then let me go ahead of him. Seeing that he had no intention of making space for me, I smiled and gestured for him to go ahead.

The man standing behind him had watched all this unfold, then smiled at me and gestured for me to go ahead of him. Kindness was catching on.

You become a more powerful being in any moment that you simply pause . . . and allow Divine energy to flow through you. You will be moved to act in ways that demonstrate fearlessness and compassion. This is how you become “a light in the market place.”