Principles- Storms of Fear- 23/1/2016

    Life is full of storms that man should face and fight. Sometimes they defeat man and other times they affect his life positively or negatively. As they say “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger”. Before I mention what these storms are, I’d like to stress that wise man is who defeats the storms with his faith in God and patience before it destructs him. Every problem we are going through is temporary. It will come to an end sooner or later. However, no one will defeat it completely unless he keeps his steadfastness, patience and faith in God and His Providence.

   There are many sorts of storms, the internal that begins inside one’s soul and may leave its effect on the others and the external that resemble hurricane striking his life and bring about its effects on his life and soul.

First: The Internal Storms:

   They are his emotions, ideas that burst into his mind and heart. If man couldn’t handle them wisely, he will be moved by them and fail to live his life. As per the saying, if you can’t beat your inner self, it will beat you. I don’t mean the inner conflict between man and his self, but rather his attitude toward the negative ideas, desires and emotions that prevent him from achieving success.

   One of these destructive storms is fear: fear of failure, fear of others or of the future…etc. For instance, fear of failure is one of the most dangerous factors that distorts man’s work and keeps him in a constant condition of worry and confusion. He turns into a hesitant person who is unable to make decisions out of his fear. It is said that the biggest hindrance to success is fear of failure.

   To face these storms you should change your prospective about meaning of failure. In fact there is nothing called failure in life but there are different acceptable or unacceptable degrees and sorts of success. In both cases, you should work hard with an open mind to achieve what you want. You should enhance your desire in success with positive thoughts that will increase your productivity and encourage you to work more. As this desire will turn into a powerful motive that makes you move forward to your goal. It is positive to put your goals before your eyes and picture the success you want to achieve. As a result, you will find yourself increasing your efforts automatically to reach it. Here is this advice said by an American entrepreneur, Ray Kroc, who achieved success after fifty. He said not to stop keep going as nothing can replace insistence as talent, intelligence and education aren’t enough. It is only resistance and perseverance that are capable of achieving anything.

   As for the unjustified fear of others, it is a stumbling stone in man’s life and it will hinder him from making mature social relationships that involve exchanging experiences and living in a friendly atmosphere, as well as team work which is a characteristic of developed societies. What is really needed in any relationship is setting the suitable limits that don’t break ties of love or understanding between people. You should know that no one can affect your life without your permission.

   There is also the storm of lacking of self-confidence that outbreaks in man’s soul and affects him deeply and wastes his energy at negative thoughts that he brings him nothing but pain. Lack of self-confidence is due to…. To be continued…

Anba Ermiah,

General Bishop& President of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center