‘Don’t move the way fear makes you move’, says Rumi. And that has been my inspiration for the week.
A very sad incident (sorry, I can’t share details), an indirect outcome of a decision of ours, made me look at the intention behind our decision. And I came to the conclusion that the decision was based on fear or at least wanting to do the right thing.
I often want to be seen as ‘doing the right thing’. It’s something that I have been working on, but only this week, did I realize that the underlying cause of this was fear.
This set me off on a path of looking more closely at the decisions I make – even the small, every day ones. They are often motivated by fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of what people will think. Of making a mistake. Of not completing what I start and therefore, not beginning at all.
In this year, where I want to focus on doing things intentionally, it’s important for me to look at every decision more closely. I want to make my decisions based on my principles and do what is meaningful and based on love. As one inspired soul added to the Rumi quote – ‘Move the way love makes you move‘.
“Don’t move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move.”
Not Quite Rumi (!!)
Don’t Move The Way Fear Makes You Move and MLK
On 15 January, the world celebrated MLK day. He has always been an inspiration to me. To know that he too struggled with fear, has inspired me more. I read this story via Terry Hershey.
By the time the Montgomery bus strike was achieving both success and national attention, Dr. King began receiving telephone death threats (as many as 40 a day).
“One night very late around midnight—and you can have some strange experiences at midnight—the telephone rang.” Dr. King relates the story in a later sermon. “On the other end was an ugly voice.”
“For some reason, it got to me. I was weak. Sometimes, I feel discouraged… You can’t call on Daddy anymore. You could only call on the Something your Daddy told you about, that Power that can make a way out of no way.”
And at that kitchen table, he prayed. “Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right… But I must confess… I’m losing my courage.”
King explained what happened next: “I could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for truth. Stand up for justice. Stand up for righteousness.'”
I’m reminding myself to operate from principles and love and not from fear.
Who are what has inspired you this last week?
This week I’m posting for WQ #156: Windows Into The Past: People Who Inspire A Lifetime Of Beliefs
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Beautifully put. It’s not everyone who has the courage to face their past decisions and take ownership for them , learn from them and work on living a better life. More power to you, Corinne.
Thank you, Sunita. I think I’m finally growing up! 😉
AS usual a beautiful write-up.
Thanks, Balaka. I just came from reading yours. ♥
Lovely post, Corinne! I totally believe in what you’ve said —it makes so much sense to operate from one’s values and beliefs and I know how many times I’ve actually gone ahead and made mistakes when fear led me forward. One of the things I started last year was following Pema Chodron’s teachings on letting go of the things that I’m afraid of. It’s a challenging journey and I need constant reminders every now and then to remind myself how not to get derailed.
As you said, it’s a difficult journey but totally worth it, because it gives so much peace of mind. We’ll still make mistakes and things may not turn out the way we planned, but making intentional and thoughtful choices will make life so much more meaningful.
Thanks for sharing about Pema Chodron’s teachings, Esha. I have a couple of her books, but haven’t read them completely.
Wow, this is really deep Corinne. I am like you. I try to do what’s right, but I do worry about what people will think of me, and I struggle with fears. I hadn’t heard that story about MLK before. It humanizes him. I can’t imagine getting 40 death threads a day. I can’t imagine getting any. I would have lost my courage way before that, but he was human, and at least one of those threats was a reality. Your words bring it home and make it real. Thanks for sharing your inspiration with WQ readers this week. 🙂 xxx
Yes, the story did humanize him, Marsha. It’s often easy to forget how our heroes struggled too. That they overcame their fears and carried on, should empower us to do the same! Thank you again for this lovely link up that helps me keep thinking about what I should write about based on my life.
I thought hard about who or what inspired me last week and I cannot think of anyone or anything. Maybe I have been running on auto-pilot thinking about the next chore to be done or the next activity which requires my attention or maybe I am my own inspiration. This is a new thought 🙂
I have given thought to how fear has been exercising through me on different occasions and how each time any decision made out of fear has not given positive results. It is a forever process to identify, become aware, attempt to not repeat a similar situation, and to see fear gripping me again in another circumstance. The MLK story inspires me today. So I will say this if asked the same question next week.
Being your own inspiration might be the best, Anamika! Having said that, you inspire me!
Hi Corinne – I too have made many decisions based on fear of failure, or not causing upset, or not breaking with how things “should” be. It’s a strange wake up call to realize that we can make our choices based on a different set of principles……and then having the courage to do so. I hope we can both be braver and more intentional in the year ahead x
I love how our personal journey intersects from time to time, Leanne. Here’s to both of us being braver and more intentional!
I needed to hear this because 2023 was all about decisions I made as a reaction to fear, and I’m paying for some of them right now. Hoping I make better choices in 2024. Thank you, Corinne!
I’m sorry to hear this, Apeksha. I hope that we all make better choices in 2024!
I woke up to this sad news this morning:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/22/us/dexter-king-death-martin-luther/index.html
Martin Luther King was, indeed, courageous. So many of his questions are taken off of context, but are so much more powerful IN context. I think he moved with courage, righteousness, and love.
I don’t think it’s wrong (though it’s certainly not fashionable) to care what others think of us. But we should only care what kind, honest, righteous, living people think of us. What dogs and children think of us. What people we love think of us. Not what every random stranger on the Internet thinks of us. Not what people who USE others as their stepping stones and last rungs think of us.
I was too young to be aware of Martin Luther King Junior’s death. But somehow one hopes that his legacy lives on through his children and family. That his son has passed too, is indeed, sad.
I love what you say that we should care what children and dogs think of us – I think it’s good material for a T-shirt, no?
Probably! I was thinking of the quotation that’s usually attributed to W.C. Fields (but probably ought to be “Anonymous”): “Never trust a man who doesn’t like dogs or children.” But really, it’s the other way around – it happens because dogs and children instinctively don’t like the man. See Are Dogs Good Judges of Character? · The Wildest – the same is true with children (maybe moreso). They’re not at all good at hiding their opinions, either of them.
How old do you think I am, Corinne? JFK was killed the year I was born; I was only 5 when King was murdered. What I was referring to is the way certain quotations have been yanked from the whole of his writings, whitewashed, and made to appear as if King were merely a pacifist. Read the whole of his Letter here: Letter from Birmingham Jail, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (letterfromjail.com) That’s just one example, but a good place to start. It’s the one that got me past making excuses for slow social evolution, and there are better pull-quotes to be had from it.
Strange, but I was just talking to Jose about how our dog, Lucky, just doesn’t take to some ‘nice’ people who are ‘dog lovers’! I guess it’s instinct, which most of us adults learn to suppress!
About King, thank you for the link – what a powerful piece of writing. I often say that people have made Jesus to be a wimpish figure too, when he was actually alwayschallenging the authorities. Most Christians seem to think we have to conform rather than challenge, don’t you think?
Ah, you are very wise, Corinne! I love your thought process here. I met a new friend two weeks ago and she said a very similar thing to you, that she tries to make her decisions from love instead of fear. I’m sure I fail often at that (fear can be a powerful motivator). I love your awareness of intention. It can be a game-changer.
Lisa, we’re all learning from each other, aren’t we? It’s easy to write about making decisions based on love, much harder to actually live it out in life. I’m attempting to be open to learning (unlearning too!) and changing.
This post spoke to me, Corinne. I, too, wish to do everything with love, not fear. But it is a real challenge getting fear under control and giving love free rein to help us live our lives the way we should!
I guess we’re all learning to be more courageous as we grow older, Shilpa. I feel blessed to have so many fellow bloggers who are on this journey with me.
This is a beautiful read, Corinne.
Something I always remind my husband and I, is any decision that we make is based on the information and wisdom we had at that time and sometimes things won’t pan out the way we hoped for. But that’s okay. We learned something there and there is no point in blaming ourselves for things not working out the way we wanted.
You see, we started our life together at an young age when we knew nothing about anything. Being away on another country made things a tad difficult for us too. So, we many of decisions turned out to be not so wise and this is how we chose to see the mistakes that transpired.
Thank you for sharing that beautiful thought, Corinne. I am noting it down for future reference. “Move the way loves makes you move.”
Thank you for sharing, Vinitha. As someone wise said, ‘When you know better, you do better.’ I take it to mean that there’s no point in regretting past decisions. Now that we know better, we must try to do better! Hugs.
I enjoyed this post as well. Can’t wait to read more.
Thanks, Kirstin. Glad we’re connected, thanks to Marsha!