Windows

 

The windows to our world can be television, radio, family, friends, books, or simple experiences.

We see things through so many different filters that sometimes it becomes difficult to know which ones to trust. 

For example, looking through a stained glass window may show things occurring in red or blue, or even sunny yellow, but we know this is an illusion.

That same illusion occurs when we look at the world through fear. Fear can be a life altering filter depending upon what initiated it.

Some things are truly dangerous. We don't have to meet a cobra to know we should not engage them, but watching certain television programs, or reading only the crime section of the news leads some people to think they are in constant danger from thieves, or sexual perverts, or sharks, or even goblins, ghosts and ghoulies. 

When fear becomes the filter of choice, the main way to protect yourself from things that are new, or strange, or things you simply don't understand, it becomes a liability.

How you replace the fear filter can be complicated and difficult, especially if it has been the driving force behind most of your actions for a long period of time. You become the turtle whose body contracts into a shell shielding you from everything both good and bad.

Opening the window to a life of reason is not as easy as it sounds for some people. They are even afraid to consider their options.

This is a mental illness. It means it is time to find a way to talk to a therapist, which of course becomes a catch 22, because that can be something new and new things are terrifying, (and therefore dangerous.)

If you recognize these symptoms, open a new window, let in a little light, let a breath of fresh air enter your life and discover that joy comes with more reasonable filters.