“I’ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.” ― Mark Twain
FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real
“Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre
I have some dark emotions. I don’t like rats and bugs.
But they are pretty much innocent. Most bugs fear me, and most rats will run away from me.
I have only encountered them a few times, and most of the time it was me who started the process (I ran after them, not them after me).
Yet, I fear them, and I associate them with dark emotions.
That’s irrational, I think.
The solution?
The first step is acknowledging the issue.
The second step might be trying to change what I can – how I look at the world.
I can’t change the existence of rats and bugs. But I can look at them in a friendlier way.
In a poem like „Gândăcelul” – by Elena Farago the little bug is presented nicely.
In a book like „Papucii lui Mahmud” by Gala Galaction, the rats are around a monk living in solitude, and they are considered to be part of this world, they are not abnormal creatures of which we must get rid of.
The third step is reinforcement. Meet a rat, don’t run away from it. Meet a bug, don’t kill it, and don’t be afraid to touch it, or, at least, don’t look at it with disgust.
That’s it – three steps: acknowledge the issue, look at the situation differently, and reinforce the way of looking at the situation.
