Blind Tibetan monks…

I was driving back from the gym and I was listening to this self help guru type person on the radio spruiking on about fear. No, I’m not into listening to sensitive new age crap where people contemplate their belly button while sipping organic peppermint tea grown by blind Tibetan monks on the north side of a hill that is inhabited only by sacred frogs. But that’s me. I like good old, kick-you-in-the-head reality. However, this sensitive fluffy dude did make me think about the concept of fear. He said we “must confront our fears to be truly great." Yep, I’ll go along with the confronting thing – some things you just have to stand up to – but the truly great bit? Ah no, I don’t believe that.

Why not? I’ve done a lot confronting of fear this year and I have to tell you on the whole it was not great…it was pretty average actually. While you must face what scares you, 9 times out of 10, it’s not going to make you feel great. You may feel relieved and generally a little silly, but greatness is not mixed up in that.

It annoys me that these self help nongs spout off this pop psychology without actually thinking who their listeners are. What is someone else’s fear? Should they confront it? Will it be dangerous? And yes, you can say it’s up to the individual to take what they like out of these messages but what if they are so confused and searching for answers that they do the wrong thing? I have long believed self help gurus need to look to their own lives and only treat those on an individual basis and not people on mass via syndicated media.

Fear – sure, face it if you can but no ones going to think any worse of you if you don’t. As for greatness? It comes and goes and you get on with life. No one is going to be great all the time and we just have to accept that.

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Be daring...read an Amarinda book

What a scream...literally...

OMG!!! In an attempt to prove I am a big brave romance writer I went on a cable car ride above the rainforest canopy on the way to a fantastic tourist village called Kuranda. If you are in Cairns - make sure you go to this village. I loved it. I also bought stuff for me and friends and one lucky Amarinda reader who will win a swag of stuff I have collected on my travels too...but more on that later. Stay tuned.

So - the skyrail - against my better judgement and Spidey sense, I boarded a green capsule thing and hurtled a gazillion miles over tree tops. I am scared to death of heights. This was so scary that I screamed all the way. I kid you not. I had the capsule of terror to myself. Thank god as anyone else would have been deaf after travelling with me. Here's what I think....the only thing that should soar above trees should be birds. I am sure the scenery was amazing. Every so often I looked up from my feet to take a quick, haphazard photo. It would be a fantastic trip if you weren't prone to screaming. While I have been up the arch thingy in St Louis, USA and a cable car in Switzerland, the Kuranda skyrail was the most scariest thing I have ever done. There is only one thing that could have scared me more but I'm smart enough to avoid that.

A highlight of my Kuranda village outing - other than retail therapy - was a tarot reading with a peace-love-and-mung-beans-greenie type. My cards were 'kick arse' and there is apparently nothing I cannot succeed in...well of course.

What's planned tomorrow? Not sure...off for a swim now then several glasses of plonk to steady my nerves...medicinal purposes only...

Be good or be fast and have an alibi

Amarinda

Feeding on fear…

He who fears something gives it power over him. ~Moorish Proverb

So, we all are scared of something. That's human nature. Maybe we acknowledge it. Maybe we don't. The thing is fear exists and sometimes it's not a bad thing. How? Well I believe fear keeps us safe. Sometimes the odd shiver of fear up your spine in a situation will give you warning that all is not as it should be. So it can be a safety mechanism. Or when you are watching a really scary movie and you are hugging someone close it’s an adrenalin rush that maybe can turn into something more interesting - and I'm not talking about making hot chocolate

But what about the fears that are thrust upon us by others? What about people who get panicked by other people either consciously or not? They listen to the fear mongers and then start to feel the gloom descent on them . Think of the classic War of the Worlds (the original not Mr Cruise’s version) about a town that gets panicked into believing aliens have landed after they hear a radio broadcast. No, I know you and I are too smart to do that but have you noticed others that do? I've seen it. It brings people down, they start to wonder about themselves and then before too long they start to wonder what the point of doing whatever it is – and all because one other person sent a ripple of their own fear through them. Sure it's okay to be scared but I believe it’s wrong to project your fears onto someone else - unless you know they are in danger. Let's face it we all have more than enough to deal with without someone else’s baggage or hysteria.

I had a case recently where someone in some authority tried to make me insecure about my worth. They wanted to see me scared and worried. Of course it didn’t work but I have to wonder how successful her ploy is on others – controlling them so they do as she wants. That’s using fear for advantage. Think of the McCarthy era in the 50’s and the cry of reds under the beds - where anyone with the slightest hint of communist or socialist leanings could be ruined by their thinking outside the square. It was a way of keeping everyone the same so that no one was allowed to break from the norm. Look at today, not all believers in Islam are terrorists and to be feared.

So what the hell am I rabbiting on about? There are always going to be negative people who espouse doom and gloom or trade on fear to try and make you feel less than you are. Don’t listen to them. Listen to your heart and your mind and be guided by your beliefs. Just because they tell you the sky is falling doesn’t mean it is.

A cat bitten once by a snake dreads even rope. ~Arab Proverb

Okay – enough pontificating….Talented Aussie author Barbra Novac interviewed me for her blog. Check it and Barbra out here.

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Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?