"Anything you avoid-even a little bit-feels dangerous to the mind."
"There is only one kind of fear and your mind doesn't like it."
"The mind's most effective way of forcing you to fall back from perceived danger
is to throw a distressing memory up into your awareness, one that often bears a
striking resemblance to the present situation."
Fear, Memory and Habit
Change
When you are asking your mind to let go of a habit, your own personal Internal Security
Administration will always check to make sure you can, literally, live without that
habit. In Chapter Twelve we discussed how all personal change is blocked by the
fight or flight response. Any change arouses fear in the mind that you will be exposed
to vulnerability and risk. If there is any reluctance, any fear-if you are feeling
afraid, anxious, nervous, uncomfortable, or even hesitant when you are considering
and imagining a habit change-then security was immediately alerted about this feeling
of reluctance and security personnel have already reported for duty, in order to
block any attempt at change. Soon they'll be hovering above you, ominously asking
"Is everything all right?" like they're sure everything is not all right. Your endocrine
system is shifting gears. The barometer is dropping and the weather vane is changing
direction, but not because Mary Poppins is coming. When fear came up on your radar,
your mind began scanning the skies for enemy aircraft. Your mind started gearing
up to resist any change-all in your best interests.
Anything you avoid-even a little bit-feels dangerous to the mind. Fight or flee.
There is only one kind of fear and your mind doesn't like it. Soon either your fighter
jets will be scrambling or your getaway car will be peeling out. Dangerous is what
the condition is in your own personal internal Department of Homeland Security when
there's any fear present. Condition red alert. Time to fall back, break camp, strike
the set, and think about surviving so you can change habits another day. Security
is always the priority.
The mind's most effective way of forcing you to fall back from perceived danger
is to throw a distressing memory up into your awareness, one that often bears a
striking resemblance to the present situation. The effect will be compelling. This
strategy works really well because the memory it brings into your awareness is going
to have plenty of fear connected to it. You may or may not recognize that Mind has
recovered an actual memory-often people confuse the memory for the event unfolding
in real time, due to the similarity-but even if you miss the memory you won't miss
the fear. The immediate effect is to make you flinch, abruptly shift your awareness,
and pull back. Your mind knows what you did last summer, it knows what you're afraid
of-and it knows where you live.
When we manage to recognize them for what they are, what are we supposed to do with
these frightening and disturbing "intruders" that Mind has rudely thrust into our
awareness? Can we proceed in spite of them? Must they stop us just because there
is fear-and the flight or fight response? Are we powerless to move forward?
No, we are not powerless. We can clear memories of their distressing effects.
 | THINK RESPONSIBLY! |
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