Is An Undercurrent of Fear Impacting Your Happiness?

Whether you realize it’s fear or not, ever since 9/11 we’ve collectively experienced fear as an undercurrent in our lives. The worldwide economic challenges during subsequent years amplified the volume of the collective fear even more. Because we’re all connected, we’ve all felt this growing vibrational undercurrent of fear.

Many of us don’t recognize this fear because it’s been such a pervasive and chronic condition of our lives, and we don’t realize how much it’s impacting our happiness. We may feel a glimmer of happiness, but then we hear the news of another shooting, threat of war, or some other calamity, and our joy goes away quickly.

How Fear Works

Interestingly, fear is hardwired into our body as a means of protection; it’s an automatic response when the body is threatened. In order to make another choice, we have to recognize what fear feels like in order to defend ourselves from a perceived threat. Then we’re able to direct our energy in a different direction.

When fear is instilled in childhood through parenting practices, an overly strict school environment, or religious training, it often forms an emotional core that goes unexamined and unreleased throughout adulthood. Over the years, more fear is simply layered on top with no realization of the accumulation.

In the spiritual community, our motto is often “don’t think about or feel fear”and then it won’t impact you. If fear is an undercurrent that has been pervasive in your experience, its influence runs so deep in your feeling core that it’s not as easy as “don’t think it or feel it.”

There are multiple ways fear can impact you in each of the elemental realms of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, as well as on the collective Spiritual level. Here are just a few of them.

On the Earth physical level, you’re likely to experience a wave of fear when you encounter a mama bear and her cubs in the wild, a flood that covers the roof of the house at the end of your cul de sac, someone breaking into your home, or being physically attacked in some way. You might also be impacted by day to day physical concerns such as wearing the right outfit to an important event, or more dire fears, such as not having enough food or a place to sleep.

Collectively, we experience fear at the physical level with environmental threats such as contamination after the Gulf oil spill, an earthquake such as the one that hit Haiti, or a tsunami that wiped out an entire area in Japan. Fear may also result from being physically near attacks such as 9/11, bombings or warfare, or where someone with a rifle opens fire on a group. These events bring immediate physical fear but they can also keep us awake at night long after the experience.

Fear occurs on the Water emotional realm when you’re awash in so much self-doubt it prevents you from taking action. Feelings of fear may be influencing you if you’re having trouble making decisions, you’re steeped in worry, or you can’t focus on generating and creating solutions to the problems you face.

In the emotional realm you can also have fear of shame, guilt, or humiliation which blocks you from trying something new, going for your dreams, or experiencing happiness.

On the Air mental level, fear is often blasted over the airwaves through both words and pictures. It might come from the radio, the television, a political leader, an economist, a teacher, or the pulpit. Hearing threats of economic collapse can move you immediately into a financial survival mode, taking you right out of an income-generating creative mindset.

When you hear words that are intended to invoke fear, you need to know how to handle them and re-channel your energy toward happiness. Do you absorb words of fear and allow them to impact your emotions, or can you recognize the blast and make a conscious choice to align with what you want to experience?

The element of Fire is provoked when your fears relate to life spinning out of control or when you feel disempowered in some way. Being in an accident, being overpowered in some way, or not having the energy to bring your dreams into being are fears which inflame the Fire element.

Spiritually, you might have a low-grade fear of intolerance or persecution for your beliefs and the way you connect or don’t connect to the Divine. For many years, those who honored nature, upheld science, or believed in the Divine Feminine were considered heretics, and the punishment was often death. You may have an undercurrent of fear impacting your happiness that if you express your essence you won’t be accepted.

Releasing Fear and Activating Happiness

In order to release chronic fear, you need to do some conscious clearing work around it.

The best action you can take to deal with the way fear may be impacting your happiness is to simply begin noticing it. Pay attention to your responses to situations. Is fear impacting your happiness?

Are you using the two most common fears –lack of time and money –to prevent yourself from going for your dreams and experiencing happiness?

When you notice an undercurrent of fear, either personally or collectively, is impacting your happiness, make a conscious choice to realign your energy with happiness. Consciously choosing happiness can help you fully embrace the magical upliftment that it brings.

Choice directs the powers of creation. Each time you choose something – what you will eat, wear, think, do, not do, express, feel, create, or where you will live, work, play and how you will spend your money and your time – you express your creative energy which helps you design and define yourself, your life, and your relationship with happiness.
Even in circumstances when your choices seem very limited, you still have the ability to choose your response to a situation and align with the vibration of happiness.

You can boost your happiness on each of the elemental realms of creation.

Earth – Physical Realm: Choose to stay in gratitude for all the physical things (even the tiny ones) that bring you joy, uplift your heart, and put a smile on your face.

Water – Emotional Realm: Infuse love into every area of your life. Fill yourself with love and allow self-doubt to be released to refocus your flow of bliss and contentment.

Air – Mental Realm: Notice if you are saying anything to yourself that weakens your feeling of well-being and cheerfulness. Focus your thoughts and beliefs on your sense of satisfaction.

Fire – Action Realm: Notice what actions enliven your sense of happiness, such as a walk in nature, time with family, a fun dance class. Add these activities to your routine as often as possible.

Spirit – Essence Realm: A deep connection to Spirit, Source, All that Is, God/dess, can add to your lightheartedness and exuberance for life. Center yourself with a meaningful relationship to the Divine.

Allow the elemental forces of creation to assist you in moving from an undercurrent of fear to a vibration of happiness.