Fear. It seems to be an essential emotion to all humans, and likely most animals. My belief is that it first arises when the mother, or warm place where the organism matured, is taken away from the creature. Being thrust into a cold world gives the animal the first glimpse into the unpleasant side of reality. The life form, initially feeling that all of its needs (water, food, love, shelter, and rest) were completely taken care of in perpetuity, now realizes that they are impermanent, and that it may sometimes be without these needs. 

Fear helps to instruct the organism that not having these needs is bad, and it motivates it to obtain these needs. If the animal is cold, it may experience discomfort, which can quickly cause fear if it isn’t alleviated quickly. This fear drives the organism towards warmer environments where its warmth is returned and its fear of freezing dispelled. This process continues for the other five basic needs, driving the organism to extinguish one fear after another, until all of its needs are temporarily satisfied i.e. the organism has achieved comfort and satisfaction. 

Fear works well to help us acquire our needs, and is certainly a useful emotion for survival. But what purpose does this fear serve in organisms who have essentially conquered nature and almost always have their needs met?

Even with our firm grip over nature, fear in humans is still ubiquitous. From fear of arriving late to work, to anxiety over the stock market, to fear of speaking in public - there are endless sources of fear. Yet, most humans in developed countries have all of their basic needs met nearly all of the time. If we focus on the top 25% of wealthy people in this world, they don’t have inadequacies of water, food, love, shelter, and rest on a daily basis. Sure, humans could always use more love, and many of them could use more rest, but that is largely due to their own decisions, not due to any fault of nature not providing them. So the fear that many of these humans have, what is it good for, if it isn’t helping them satisfy their needs? 

Not much, apparently. Living in fear has numerous deleterious health effects, as research has repeatedly shown. Yet, we continue to listen to this fear and let it influence our behaviors. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of humiliation - these fears can paralyze us, and prevent us from doing, from living, and from taking chances. Without action, we become stagnant, bland, and impotent. 

The real shame in letting fear grow and seep into every aspect of our life, is that it robs us of joy. Life without joy is largely suffering, or at least neutral at best. It is hard to find meaning in a life devoid of joy, and I doubt any parent would want to see her child live a joyless life. Yet, many of the actions that give us the most joy in life would be avoided if fear was allowed to run rampant. 

Consider the joy of falling in love with a romantic partner. Surely fear could butt its head into this affair, and put a halt to any romantic advances before they have begun. Fear of rejection could win this battle, and the joys of romantic love would be lost. 

Consider the joy of parenthood. Once again the fear of any number of mishaps or outcomes could deter us from having children. A genetic mutation, a still-birth, a depressed child who commits suicide - all of these fears could prevent us from receiving the joys of parenthood. 

But the fears continue beyond romantic love and parenthood. How about the joy of a roller coaster? Surely fear could put a stop to enjoying this thrill. Yet, isn’t life richer and more meaningful when this unique physical feeling is experienced? 

What about fear of enlightenment? Fear of spirituality? Fear of the unknown? It is hard to find written instances of humans experiencing greater joys, both emotionally and mentally, than the joys of spiritual bliss, or spiritual enlightenment. Isn’t finding and experiencing these peak experiences part of our human journey? Ideally, we have evolved beyond just fulfilling our basic five needs to seeking pleasures, euphoria, revelations, and feelings of oneness that extend far beyond a feeling of satisfaction. Yet, time and again I see and hear the fears of so many people, pushing back against this ultimate experience. Fear of religion, fear of spirituality, fear of the unknown, fear of realizing that sex and romantic love is NOT the ultimate pleasure for a human, prevents these people from seeking these experiences. 

If we wish to be like most animals, we can let fear continue to guide our actions. We can strive to simply provide the five basic needs for ourselves, and focus on procreation. We can live a life very similar to a vole, or a penguin, or an eagle, or a bear. If instead, we realize that as humans we have the unique ability and capacity to not only satisfy these basic needs, but to go further and achieve unbelievable bliss, joy and euphoria, experiencing a oneness with the universe, then we can transcend our physical forms and squeeze the very highest pleasures and truths out of our impressive brains. Rather than simply survive, we can be lifted even higher, to the realms of elation and ecstasy, where few creatures ever venture. It is in this ethereal realm of bliss, calm, truth, and eternity that we have fully left fear behind, and embraced our true origins in the universe, connecting with a higher energy and power than our physical forms have ever known. 

If that isn’t worth abandoning fear for, then I don’t know what is. It’s your choice. Let fear rule your life and live like a squirrel. Or, abandon fear and let love and eternal truth and bliss guide your life, and live like a god.