-
“Fear of death often drives us into death, but by befriending death, we can face our mortality and choose life freely.” – Henri Nouwen
Running away from the thing that you fear, or even just turning away from it or trying to ignore it is a recipe for disaster.
The real or imagined monster that is chasing you will keep chasing you until you turn around and face it head on. This is as true in real life as it is in the dream world. People who are beset by recurrent bad dreams where they are being chased by a monster, however ill-defined or unseen it is, are sometimes advised to stop running and turn around and look at whatever is chasing them, and this frequently puts an end to this recurring dream. Boxers know that turning away from your opponent or flinching only gives your opponent a “free shot” at you because you can’t see the blow that’s coming your way. To strike your opponent you have to be close enough for them to hit you. Even in tennis it’s natural to fear playing the net because the ball may be coming right at your face. But keeping your racquet up and your eyes towards the ball improves your odds of hitting it back rather than being hit.
And what is the thing that most of us fear the most? Probably death, or the infirmities which lead to death, and it wasn’t so long ago that the word “cancer” was often heard only in whispers, people being afraid to say the word out loud. Ironically, those who have faced death, and perhaps even befriended it have less fear of it. This doesn’t mean that we should live recklessly or that we should court death, but it does mean that by looking death in the face we can live our lives more fully.
–Christopher Simon
