Shabbat 'Vayikra': "Letting Go of Fear"

This weeks shu-shine is a continuation of last weeks discussion.  It explores the harmful nature of fear, and how to move beyond fear.

It is not based upon this week's Torah portion.  It is based upon my studies and reflections over this past week, and more broadly, over the past many years.

Stephen Covey teaches that we each have a Circle of Concern – the things we care about in the world and in life.  And within that Circle of Concern lies our Circle of Influence – those things we can actually affect and change.  There are many things, Covey explains, which although we are very concerned about them, we do not have influence over.

Fear, by its very definition, regards those things which are within our Circle of Concern, but NOT within our Circle of Influence.  Fear relates to our wish to see certain results take place in our lives, yet recognizing that we cannot control those results with the level of certainty we desire, and worrying that things will go in a "bad" direction.

Fear, by its very definition, is fruitless.  It consumes vast emotional space within our hearts and minds.  It consumes that space at the expense of our being more emotionally available to the people and priorities that we care about.  And it distracts us to a level that often causes collateral damage.

To free oneself from fear, is to reclaim the lightness of one's Spirit.

Attached please find a Shu-Shine for Shabbat 'Vayikra': "Letting Go of Fear"

May we all be blessed to identify those things which we fear the most in life, and toss the keys to those things to HaShem and not worry about them anymore.

With Love and a Smile,

~Shu