How to Respond to Fear, Uncertainty, and Emotional Challenges
Run Toward the Danger: Our current times are fraught, uncertain, wildly unusual, full of crises, danger… and opportunities for personal growth and mindfulness as well. There is conflict and confusion; many people are hurt and angry, almost everyone is experiencing fear of some sort and at some time or other. A significant question arises: what is an appropriate response to the volatility, the whiplash of events and emotions… a response that will serve us personally, those we care about, as well as the greater good?
What Does “Run Toward the Danger” Mean?
Well, there are certainly many possible and appropriate responses. One that took me by surprise, and actually came into my awareness from several directions recently, is Run Toward the Danger. Even as someone who is not generally, or overly, fearful, this startled me. Run Toward the Danger? Really? How? When? To what end? At what risk?
Real-Life Examples of Running Toward the Danger
Here are several guides who have advocated running toward the challenges and the danger, and have survived, yes thrived, as a result.
* Sarah Polley, award winning Canadian filmmaker actually has a book by this title, In this extraordinary book, Polley explores what it is to live in one’s body, in a constant state of becoming, learning, and changing. She describes her experience having a major concussion as well as other traumatic events, and it was not until she began to “run toward the danger” that she begin to heal. 
* Another perspective on why it’s important to be brave and take risks is from The Tapping Solution. EFT Tapping has been an important tool in my kit for many years now, and its benefits are legion.
* Scared Sacred is a moving, relevant, poignant film for our days by a spiritual and social activist from Gibsons, BC: Velcro Ripper: you can watch it free on the website of the National Film Board: https://www.nfb.ca/film/scared_sacred/. It had me in tears again and again at what people have to experience, sand how courageously and generously they respond. 
How Courage and Honest Action Create Personal Growth
What has been your experience with running toward (or away from) the danger? On a personal level, I recently summoned up the courage to acknowledge and apologize to someone about my reactivity to a well-meant comment that triggered me. It was scary, but in the end a relief to clear the air and rebuild the relationship.
And what about how to respond to the some of the political and cultural horrors of our day? It’s easy to put one’s head in the the sand, and stay small and safe. To run toward the danger, I’ve been trying to speak out, write and call my Oklahoma Senator, write my MLA and MP, and contribute to causes that support those actively involved in countering some of the egregious actions. (One example would be Democracy Forward, in the US.)
I’d love to hear how all this lands with you. What ways of responding are you exploring in your situation?
Warm greetings and wishes for a bounteous May, rich with opportunities to live fully, celebrate our many gifts, and yes, run toward the danger when it feels right to do so.
Blessings, gratitude for this rich community, sharing tools for personal growth, mindfulness, appreciation and active hope,
Jill
Recent posts or ones relevant to our times include:
• Natural Resources: Always Available “I felt myself letting go of some of my urgency to “do”, and accepted nature’s invitation to “be”, to rest, regenerate, and be grateful for the manifold and miraculous gifts of the natural world. And that shift is an essential survival skill in such turbulent times as ours are now.”
• Holding It All An earlier Beltane note from another challenging period that focuses on “Loving what arises” as one way of running toward the danger.
• Judgement or Curiosity? where I grapple with the insight that “my habitual patterns of judging can actually create a toxic internal environment.” It was a big ah, ha to realize and feel into this insight. To just be here, face and feel what is, can often feel like “running toward the danger”!
Jill Schroder is the author of BECOMING: Journeying Toward Authenticity. BECOMING is an invitation for self-reflection, and to mine our memorable moments for insights, meaning, andgrowth. Check the website for a sample chapter, or see the reviews to get a flavor for the volume. Follow me on Twitter, let’s be friends on Facebook.
