FEAR OF THE DARK

I am a man who walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it's dark

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it is gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

There can be a lot of good reasons to be afraid: dying, collapsing, losing everything, not achiving one's goals, rejection, making the wrong decision, loneliness... and I think a little fear is always healthy -- as long as it doesn’t get out of control, which is something that the gringo society in particular seems to have trouble with over the last few years. Child abductions, terrorist attacks, high school rampages, snipers and other more mundane crime waves all send Americans into a frenzy of stupidly crafted laws that result in kids getting kicked out of school for bringing a butter knife to class, or people getting arrested for bringing a toothpick into an airplane.

Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no one's there?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you're sure there's someone there

The answer, as Anakin Skywalker learned, is not to feed the fear nor to give into it. The hunger for absolute control it feeds can lead only to tyranny and misery. You need to master the fear, or it will master you.

When I'm walking a dark road
I am a man who walks alone