Fear is a killer

Emotions are things. Thoughts are things. Yes, they are intangible, nevertheless they are real. As children we sing the ditty “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Words are powerful. Words can heal. Words can kill.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:37: “Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.” Think about what you say. Think about what you are giving power to.

Very often in a Naturopathic practice, we will see either emotional, mental, or spiritual trauma in our assessments. We will ask questions, and the patient will usually tell us about some incident that happened in the past, and the words that were associated with it. Sometimes just evoking the memory of those words will be enough to start the tears flowing.   Don’t tell me that words don’t have a lasting impression for good or ill.

Holistic medicine is very different from allopathic medicine. It is common to hear the phrase “the issues are in the tissues,” which is naturopathic speak for emotional trauma that leads to physical illness. It is estimated that the cause of physical illness is 85% emotional.

So, what emotions are being fed by words? Look around you; what are we hearing today?   We are hearing that the sky is falling from many arenas: Political, Financial, Social. We don’t have to look very far to see carnage in the world today, whether it be in Paris, France, or San Bernadino, California. People are talking about terrorists, work place violence, civil rights, gun control. All of this language is designed to make us pay attention, and some people find it fearful.

The unknown is fearful. We have a tendency to take a situation, apply a ‘worst case scenario’ to it, (just so we will be prepared) and at the end of the day, the end result looks nothing like what we had conjured up between our ears.   Some of us are fatalist. What will be will be, and there is nothing we can do to change it. Some of us are victims. We believe we have to do unto others BEFORE they do unto us.

All of this is negative. All of this can breed fear. Fear has torment. Again, we learn from the Good Book, “There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection]”. 1 John 4:18   The Dr. Polly translation is that because we have been hurt in life, we anticipate ‘hurt’ again.   Anything that reminds us of the past, or anything that is new or unfamiliar has the potential to ‘hurt.’

However, things change. We change. We grow. We are not the same vulnerable being that we once were. Let’s make a decision to look at the new and different with new and different eyes. Let’s forget about the past, and believe that this new and unfamiliar may be the answer to our prayer. It may be the silver lining that we have been looking for. It may just be the gold at the end of our rainbow.

Change your thoughts, change your words, change your life.

Until next time

Dr. Polly