Acknowledge, Reflect, & Control
Wednesday Wisdoms for July 24, 2024
Welcome to Wednesday Wisdom, our 3x3 Newsletter where I distill worldly advice for better living with 3 quotes, 3 observations, and 3 questions.
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Acknowledge
🤨 Quote
“The only way to ease our fear and be truly happy is to acknowledge our fear and look deeply at its source. Instead of trying to escape from our fear, we can invite it up to our awareness and look at it clearly and deeply.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Source: Fear
Observation 🧐
Sometimes we feel the emotion of fear but never stop to question why it is arising in us in the first place.
We tend to like to stop at the emotion itself—‘I feel fear, I want to no longer feel this way.’
But the best way to truly get over fear is not to ignore it, but rather, to observe it.
We tend to want to run away thinking this will free us from the confines of the emotion, but it is in fact when we turn into fear, when we stare into the the dark abyss, that we not only come to see what caused the fear to begin with, but we start to see the light that will overcome it.
🤔 Question
How do you show up when fear arises in you? What do you do to tackle it?
Reflect
🤨 Quote
“We should not fear our fear, though we should always examine it... giving way to fear, which means drifting with its refusing skeptical examination, is surely dangerous. We need to think hard about fear and where fear is leading us. After taking a deep breath we all need to understand ourselves as well as we can, using that moment of detachment to figure out where fear and related emotions come from and where they are leading us.”
Martha Nussbaum
Source: Monarchy of Fear
Observation 🧐
Perhaps one of the greatest myths within our lives is that we are in control of ourselves at all times. And this is easy to think when times are good and we are in a stable state.
But to test one’s true abilities, one needs to be jarred from their stability. When the emotions within us arise—anger, fear, disgust—how do we react? Do we still control ourselves or do our emotions start to take over?
Our emotions evolved with us for a reason and to discount their existence is to ignore their entrenchment within our lives.
“Fear has a way of running ahead of careful thought,” writes Nussbaum. “It's that stampede to hasty action, by insecurity, that I view with great skepticism.”
Before we try and ignore our emotions, or shove them down, perhaps the best thing we can do is turn into them, ask of them their purpose, and why they are deciding to make an appearance at this moment in time.
It is through this two-way dialogue with ourselves that we will not only come to better understand ourselves, but that we can begin to iron-out the wrinkles in our emotional states.
🤔 Question
Seneca once said the man who comes to the mirror is already a partially changed individual. How do you reflect upon yourself to better know yourself?
Beneath the paywall this week we explore the wisdom of Dennis Proffitt and Drake Baer. Click below to support and get access.