Choose Love Over Fear

Today is Easter Sunday 2020, and we are experiencing Covid-19 Quarantine.

Whether you are a believer or not, Easter is an important time of the year.  We Christians celebrate the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ, but even if you don’t believe in Jesus, the day marks happy memories for most of us.  We think of the Easter Bunny, egg and candy hunting, spring clothing, fancy Easter hats, group worship at our churches, and family gatherings.

This year has brought us so much unpredictability that we are tempted to indulge in negativity and fear. Our fearful thoughts change our Easter Sunday into something foreign and confusing. 

How do we celebrate Easter Sunday, and every day, with less fear and uncertainty?

We choose to let love in and fear out.

In order to feel more centered, we need to learn how to let go of the fear that we are feeling and embrace the love that is open to us.  It sounds a little “Pollyanna” of me to say that, but if we work towards letting go of our fear, we can embrace love.  If we look for and embrace love, our lives will improve dramatically even in the face of negative circumstances.  

Choosing love over fear means accepting that you are human, and you will feel all the feelings.  Allow yourself some compassion when you start to feel fearful.   Embracing yourself as a normal human will allow you to feel compassion and love for yourself first.  Once you start to love yourself, and accept your feelings, you will be better able to feel love for everything and everyone around you.   

Accept that you have power over your thoughts.  Your thought world will shape your outer world more than the outer world will affect you.  I saw a great example of this concept as I was watching a story on “20/20” last weekend. They were interviewing holocaust survivors for a historical project.  One man told his story that, as a child, he was forced to hide in an attic for 2 years.  He was totally alone as all of his family had been killed.  He remained hidden, eating only one small meal a day and had to remain totally silent most of the time in order not to be discovered.  He had nothing to entertain himself except his own imagination.  He recounted his story of survival by talking of holding on to hope and love for his family.  He used his thoughts and imagination to help him survive. This is a power that is available to all of us.

Choosing love will pull you forward in life, and fear will hold you back. Choose to love and appreciate what you do have, practicing gratitude.  Looking for things in your life to be thankful for, will allow you to let go of the negative emotion and open your heart up to loving what and who you have in your life.  This gratitude mindset will allow you to attract so much more love into your life.  The Law of Attraction will open up to you when you practice choosing love and appreciation. 

We are all experiencing this Easter Sunday Quarantine together, so what a great time to help each other share love and begin to move forward.  Allow yourself the grace to be human, the space to practice compassion, the openness to be grateful, and the generosity to give aid to those in need.

Then, choose love over fear.

Dr. Julie Cappel

“I don't always make the best choices, but today I choose compassion over intolerance, sympathy over hatred and love over fear.” ― LJ Vanier