Vigilance

Fear is nature’s warning system, a protective intuition that, if used intelligently, can help you safely navigate unknown territory on your way to greener pastures. Because most people are conditioned to see fear as weakness, learning which fears to heed and which fears to overcome can be confusing.

 

In its purest form, fear is the intuitive, focused awareness of a potential threat. When you recognize the danger and move to safety, the feeling dissipates on its own. It’s so unbelievably simple at this stage. Unfortunately, most of us are taught to judge intuitive and somatic insights as irrational. With little respect for gut feelings, the mind disregards these “premonitions” and keeps moving forward, finally recognizing the danger when it’s too late to avoid.

 

Contrary to popular belief, you can collaborate with fear. Horses do it all the time. Wild herds may momentarily startle and then go back to grazing as a lion languidly passes by on his way to an afternoon nap. But when he returns later with an empty stomach, the same herd will break into a run long before the cat can get close.

 

Ego-based fear is different. It comes from the ego’s aversion to experimenting, making mistakes, especially in front of others, and possibly looking like a fool now and then. The key lies in separating it from the body’s natural warning system. Allowing ourselves the vulnerability to embrace the ego-based fear and do it anyway cracks open some of our protective layers and lets more of our true selves shine through.

 

To assess the message behind Vigilance, it’s prudent to check for a threat in your external environment. That’s fear with a capital F, and you’re well advised to step back, slow down, reassess, and move to safety. If not, consider the possibility that it may be a vulnerability or an internal threat by asking the following questions: “What belief, behaviour, or perception is being challenged?” and “What or who can help me integrate this new information? ”  

Way of the Horse Oracles