‘Live where you fear to live’ – Rumi
An inspiring line from the poet Rumi, but why in the world would we want to live where we fear to live?
Wouldn’t it be dangerous? Surely we would get robbed or something bad will happen if we lived where we fear to live?
But, this is a different kind of living, as I am sure you have noticed?
I think living where we fear to live means only one thing: we go in the direction of our fears.
We live where we fear to live when we show an act of kindness to a complete stranger.
We live where we fear to live when we start to connect with the people in our lives on a higher, more intimate level.
We live where we fear to live when we expose our vulnerability and wear our hearts on our sleeves.
We live where we fear to live when we make the choice to forgive.
We live where we fear to live when we smile more – even at strangers or someone who has upset you.
We live where we fear to live when we challenge our hearts to open a bit more than the day before.
We live where we fear to live when we make others’ well-being important to us too, without harming our own well-being.
We live where we fear to live when we consciously choose our direction in life and not blindly follow.
We live where we fear to live when we have the boldness to have more faith than doubt; even if we don’t know what will happen.
We live where we fear to live when we are willing to embrace and like ourselves as we are.
We live where we fear to live when we say no something or someone.
We live where we fear to live when we say yes to something or someone.
Moving towards our fears enables us to become better, but living in fear creates a barrier that keeps us stuck.
Would we not rather live where we fear to live, instead of living in fear?
Ali