Handling Fear

"fear gained its power whenever I would leave the moment at hand to imagine bad things descending in the future," Mark Nepo

We don't even really have to imagine the bad things descending -- often it is just a free floating anxiety about the future.  I have wondered why the pack rat problem was so upsetting for me -- the problem was taken care of temporarily by the exterminator, but it is the fear looming for me of knowing the solution was not permanent.  In cases like these, all we can do is take action to put a plan in place to handle and/or prevent the problem.  After many phone calls, I do have someone who will take care of the problem permanently.  This is a tremendous relief for me, and the alleviation of fear about 'what if' -- what if it got in the house when it is closed up for the winter?  Fear.  Taking appropriate action, and then staying in the present are ways to handle our fear, which is a normal human emotion.