https://youtu.be/7maJOI3QMu0

Story (1991 film, Defending your Life, directed by Albert Brooks): In the 1991 film, Defending your Life, the protagonist Dan Miller, has a defence attorney named Bob Diamond, who confronts him with his own fear. Diamond says: "Fear is like a giant fog, it sits on your brain and blocks everything. Real feeling, true happiness, real joy can't get through that fog but you lift it and buddy, you're in for the ride of your life." Think about this for a second. If we were to come to the end of our life story today, would our lives testify for, or against us? Would our fear have prevented us from taking stock and searching for meaning? Do we need to wait for a life crisis or problem before we take stock? None of us know when the moment of the loss of life will come. Are we going to allow the fog of our own fear prevent us from finding our calling, our purpose?

Story Essence: If life is something we can lose, what have we achieved with our lives? Did we discover our purpose, our calling? Did we break through the fog of our own fears and fulfil our reason for coming onto this Earth?

Specific Action: How has fear stopped you from creating something, experiencing new situations or relationships, or changing your attitude towards something or someone? Write down your thoughts and ideas around this. In what small way can you create something, do something new or change your attitude towards something? Choose one small step today to help you to lift the veil of fear!

If suffering calls us to account for our lives, then we need to reach out and press through the fog of our fears and take on our challenges in ways that are dignified, that are responsible. By doing this, our current problems and challenges take on new meaning, new hope. Tomorrow we will look at self-compassion.

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