The Way of The Pilgrim 
Parable of the Squirrels 
The crowd of followers settled themselves on the soft grass in the shade of the mighty grove of trees.
He rose and began to walk in the midst of them gesturing to the trees and speaking:
"The kingdom of heaven can be likened
to this grove of trees.
Here the wild creatures live in peace and harmony.
Each has ample resources to supply his needs.
The trees provide protection from enemies,
shelter from the storms and abundant food.
Each small squirrel has all that he needs.
So has the Heavenly Father provided for
each and every one of these, his little ones.
Learn a lesson from them as they go about
their daily lives.
God speaks to all of us through such small ones.
Let him who has ears to hear, listen.
Let him who has eyes to see, look."
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FEAR 
One dictionary defines fear as a distressing emotion caused by the awareness or anticipation of danger, either real or imagined.
Fear can be linked to a particular individual, a type of person, an object, situation, condition or an action and it can be broken down into three levels:
I. Things that "happen" to us, such as aging, dying, illness,
being alone, becoming disabled or fear of violence.
II. Things that are related to our egos i.e.:
fear of rejection, failure, excessive success
or popularity, oss of status or reputation,
helplessness or just being vulnerable.
III. Any situation that we feel we are unable to deal with.
More people are trying to avoid having to confront their fears by escaping into the "ostrich syndrome" (burying their heads in the sand-denial).
You can learn to manage your fears.
Imagine that the mayor of your city knocks on your door, hands you a badge and a gun and then asks you to round up a motorcycle gang that is terrorizing your neighborhood.
Though your are a good citizen and support law and order, you would be perfectly justified in finding the offer very frightening and diplomatically decline the opportunity to serve your community.
The state police SWAT team that arrives an hour later would not hesitate for a heartbeat. The reason?
Nothing more than the fact that it is their job.
Their intensive emotional and physical training program has redefined the meaning of danger for the them and has taught the team how to use the energy that fear generates to devise suitable methods for dealing with every kind of crisis scenario.
It is commonly believed that fear is what triggers a persons fight or flight response. This is wrong!
It is the perception or anticipation of danger - not fear that actually stimulates a fight or flight response.
The goal is to free yourself from fear and replace it with a sense of calm which is vital for the following reasons:
1. Uncontrolled fear leads to apprehension.
2. Apprehension quickly turns to panic.
3. Panic leads to terror, the most extreme level of fear.
4.Terror can create a temporary state of mental and physicial paralysis. It is nothing more than an emotion. It manifests itself physically in a variety of ways. Heart and respiration rates go up, blood pressure increases, you may even experience weakness, nausea or light- headedness. Rational thought and judgement are impaired. Fear can overwhelm you to the point of paralysis.
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PART TWO: Dealing With Fear 
There Are Three Ways Of Dealing With Fear:
1. We can suppress fear. But suppressed fear resurfaces as paranoia, timidity, self-doubt, worry, dread or worse.
2. We can express fear. But expressing fear dosen't get rid of it. Expressed fear resurfaces as feelings of guilt,
shame, regret, embarrassment, even cowardice.
3. We can release fear. When we "let go" of fear, we free up its energy, calming the mind and opening up our options.
The Fear Factors:
The following are the key factors that influence how susceptible
you are to fear, and how well you will handle it.
A. Perception: How you see and interpret danger.
B. Power: How you see yourself in relationship to your adversary.
C. Training: How well equipped you are to deal with the situation.
D. Attitude: Seeing yourself as a winner, as opposed to a victim.
E. Control: How many options you have to control the outcome of the encounter.
It is often said that a certain amount of fear is actually good because it sounds the alarm bell and triggers a fight or
flight response.
THIS IS WRONG.
In fact, it is the perception of danger that triggers a fight or flight response. The fear emotion adds another variable to fight or flight - it's called the freeze.
Keep in mind that the fear emotion is a learned response.
In nature, animals that lack the ability to defend themselves actually freeze when facing danger. This freeze response is an attempt to blend into the environment and simply not to be
seen by the enemy.
In a time of extreme danger i.e.: tornado, hurricane,
fire or criminal attack etc. freezing (or simple hesitation)
could result in death or serious injury.
Our training and skills and over 90% of all the information we process through our senses of sight, sound, smell and touch are stored in our sub-conscious mind. This means that in times of crisis, fear prevents our sub-conscious mind from allowing us access to our our natural and acquired abilities.
Another problem with fear is that it activates our sympathetic nervous system. We lose control of our fine motor skills. Our heart, blood pressure, pulse rate shoot up and our hearing, judgement, vision become impaired.
Fear leaves us weakened on every front to deal with any kind of a threatening situation.
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PART III 
Conquering Fear
In order to start on the road to conquering fear
you must take a hard look at yourself.
It is important that you fully understand your strengths and weaknesses which includes what you are capable of doing and your limitations.
Ask yourself what exactly am I afraid of?
Once you know yourself you can begin to develope a program to eliminate the root causes of your fears.
Building self-esteem is the foundation for ultimate success and this is where you begin.
1. Accept yourself as you are.
2. Accept your unalterable negative qualities.
3. Believe that your life has value and an identifiable sense of purpose.
4. Believe that you are entitled to live safely and free from being violated in any manner.
5. Always view yourself in a positive light.
At its peak, a strong sense of self-esteem manifests
itself in a quiet confidence which comes from the
development of self-control.
Never forget that those around you can sense your
attitude about yourself, including individuals who
might be a potential threat to you.
Self-esteem should not be confused with smuggness
or arrogance.
A person who exhibits the glowing confidence of true
self-esteem has no need to be offensive or defensive.
They just project an aura which tells the world they
have a right to exist, and no one is going to interfere
with that God given right.
When your self image is strong, you are invincible.
If you believe in your ability to handle a challange,
you will do so.
Never forget that in today's world there are people
who are always testing others to try and discover
their weaknesses and then use their vulnerabilities
against them.
If you are self confident you will defeat these
individuals.
Think about:
I am Fantastic
I Have The Power!!!
I. No one else has my wonderfull ideas on how
to do things better.
II. I can accomplish miracles once I set my
mind to it.
Remember always that you alone determine what
you do with your power. You can use it to create,
build and strenghten any part of your life.
Visualization exercises are a great way to improve
your self image.
A. In your mind's eye, formulate the image of yourself
that you want to be and then visuaize yourself
being that person.
B. Focus visualization exercises on your core.
C. See yourself as courageous.
D. See yourself as being in control.
E. See your yourself as a winner--no matter what.
F.If you can see it - you can achieve it.
You will increase your personal power by always being
confident that you are going to win.
If you make the mistake of taking the attitude that
you are going to lose, you probably will.
To win you must expect to win and be convinced that you are entitled to be a winner.
TO BE CONTINUED
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