DW's Blog

Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself

by DW Green — April 15, 2020

Panic was in the air, banks were failing, and people were scared.

In the early days of what would become known as the Great Depression, a new President named Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in and gave his first inaugural address. As the last president to hold office before the Twentieth Amendment was ratified, FDR wasn’t able to take office until March—meaning that the country had been without strong leadership for months. Panic was in the air, banks were failing, and people were scared.You probably heard the “nothing to fear but fear itself” sound bite that FDR gave in that famous speech, but the full line is worth reading because it applies to many difficult things we face in life:

“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Fear has to be feared because of the miseries it creates. The things we fear pale in comparison to the damage we do to ourselves and others when we unthinkingly scramble to avoid them. An economic depression is bad; a deadly virus is bad; a panic is worse. A tough situation isn’t helped by terror—it only makes things harder. And t...

by DW Green — April 8, 2020

We underestimate our capabilities just as much and just as dangerously as we overestimate other abilities.

Most people resist the idea of a true self-estimate, probably because they fear it might mean downgrading some of their beliefs about who they are and what they’re capable of. As Goethe’s maxim goes, it is a great failing “to see yourself as more than you are.” How could you really be considered self-aware if you refuse to consider your weaknesses?Don’t fear self-assessment because you’re worried you might have to admit some things about yourself. The second half of Goethe’s maxim is important too. He states that it is equally damaging to “value yourself at less than your true worth.” Is it not equally common to be surprised at how well we’re able to handle a previously feared scenario? The way that we’re able to put aside grief for a loved one and care for others—though we always thought we’d be wrecked if something were to happen to our parents or a sibling. The way we’re able to rise to the occasion in a stressful situation or a life-changing opportunity.We underestimate our capabilities just as much and just as dangerously as we overestimate other abilities. Cultivate the ability to judge yourself acc...

by DW Green — April 1, 2020

Passing a trial by fire is empowering.

Most people who have gone through difficult periods in their life come to later wear those experiences as badges of honor. “Those were the days,” they might say, even though they live in much better circumstances. “To be young and hungry again,” another might say wistfully. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” or “I wouldn’t change a thing about it.” As tough as those periods were, they were ultimately formative experiences. They made those people who they are. And it’s happening to us all right now, with COVID-19.There’s another benefit of so-called misfortune. Having experienced and survived it, we walk away with a better understanding of own capacity and inner strength. Passing a trial by fire is empowering because you know that in the future you can survive similar adversity. “What does not kill me makes me stronger,” Nietzsche said. Which is literary true today.If things look like they might take a bad turn or your luck might change, why worry? This might be one of those formative experiences you will be grateful for later.

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by DW Green — March 25, 2020

Only if you don’t know yourself, fear arises.

Eckhart Tolle is one of my favorite writers. He is a spiritual teacher. A German-born resident of Canada best known as the author of The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. In 2008, The New York Times called Tolle “the most popular spiritual author in the United States”. High praise!I read the following the other day, written by Eckhart Tolle. It seems most appropriate now, given our shared experience with COVID-19.“You will inevitably encounter adversity in life, whether it’s on a personal level or – as we’re experiencing now – on a collective level. If you haven’t gone deep enough, if you haven’t found anything beyond the conceptual thinking mind, then the adversity, whatever it may be (in this case we know what it is), will devastate you. And even if you do not fall ill or contract the virus, the fear will consume you, as it’s consuming millions of humans at the present time. If you would know who/what you are, you would realize that there is nothing to fear. Only if you don’t know yourself, fear arises. Become aware of yourself, not the conceptual self, not your personal history, but become aware of yourself as the conscious presence.Thinking does not h...

by DW Green — March 18, 2020

Life Is what it Is, and what it Is, Is its meaning.

Wondering about wonder.Imagine:

There are 1 Billion Trillion Stars in the observable universe.
There are 1 Billion stars in the observable Milky Way Galaxy.
Our Sun, the center of our solar system, is One of those Billion stars in the Milky Way!
Our beautiful, life supporting planet Earth, revolves around the Sun at 67,000 mph!
Modern Human Beings have been evolving on the planet for about 200,000 years!
The current world population is 7.8 billion
The population of the United States is 331 million
Just think of the countless number of brilliant, incredibly talented individuals who have collectively created the quality of life we all enjoy today.

It is with deep love, compassion, humility, equanimity and Presence that I accept and honor the perfection of Life’s unfolding. Life Is what it Is and what it Is, Is its meaning. I stand for Being with and noticing Life, without judgment in its immeasurable glory!

Think Before You Act

by DW Green — February 26, 2020

“Why did I do that?”

Think before you act. How many times have you heard that? Too many times for me!“Why did I do that?” you’ve probably asked yourself. “How could I have been so stupid? What was I thinking?” You weren’t. That’s the problem. Within the head of yours is all the reason and intelligence you need. It’s making sure that your mind is in charge, not your emotions, not your immediate physical sensations, not your surging hormones.Fix your attention on your intelligence. Let it do its thing.
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You Don’t Have To Have An Opinion

by DW Green — February 19, 2020

It is possible to hold no opinion about a negative thing.

Here’s a funny exercise: think about all the upsetting things you don’t know about—stuff people might have said about you behind your back, mistakes you might have made that never came to your attention, things you dropped or lost without even realizing it. What’s your reaction? You don’t have one because you don’t know about it.In other words, it is possible to hold no opinion about a negative thing. You just need to cultivate that power instead of wielding it accidentally. Especially when having an opinion is likely to make us aggravated. Practice the ability of having absolutely no thoughts about something—act as if you had no idea it ever occurred. Or that you’ve never heard of it before. Let it become irrelevant or nonexistent to you. It’ll be a lot less powerful this way.
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Anger Is Bad Fuel

by DW Green — February 12, 2020

What happens when that initial anger runs out?

Getting angry almost never solves anything. Usually, it makes things worse. We get upset, then the other person gets upset—now everyone is upset, and the problem is no closer to getting solved.Many successful people will try to tell you that anger is a powerful fuel in their lives. The desire to “prove them all wrong” or “shove it in their faces” has made many a millionaire. The anger being called fat or stupid has created fine physical specimens and brilliant minds. The anger at being rejected has motivated many to carve their own path.But that’s shortsighted. Such stories ignore the pollution produced as a side effect and the wear and tear it put on the engine. It ignores what happens when that initial anger runs out—and how now more and more must be generated to keep the machine going (until, eventually, the only source left is anger at oneself). “Hate is too great a burden to bear,” Martin Luther King Jr. warned his fellow civil rights leaders in 1967, even though they had every reason to respond to hate with hate.The same is true with anger—in fact, it’s true for most extreme emotions. They are toxic fuel. There’s plenty of it out in the world, no question...
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