Once upon a time, there was a stray puppy. It entered a human habitation called The Office. It was a sad and neglected child. Someone had found it cowering outside the office door and, looking at its plight, brought it into the welcoming interiors.

After being fed and watered, the puppy began running around, jumping, craving attention and love. The puppy, quite excited and comfortable by now, started a game of pouncing on the feet of everyone and bouncing away. There was a princess in the office working as a writer. She enjoyed the new presence but whenever it came near her, she jumped with fear, anticipating it to scratch or lick her feet (She liked pets but only when they were far away from her).

But each time, the puppy never came too close to her or even looked at her.
This made her question her fear or fear of things in general. Is fear real or just an illusion?

There are so many things we fear. Fear of losing something dear. Fear of getting hurt or hurting someone we love. Fear of death. There is fear hidden in every aspect of our lives.

Our fear arises mainly out of things we detest. When a thing or a situation we don’t like lurks nearby, we attach ourselves to it with the emotion of fear, imagining it to pounce at us at any time. But we fail to understand that its intention is never to attack us. It doesn’t even know we exist! In fact, it is we who attract its attention by looking at it and reacting negatively.

But if you take a calming breath and be brave enough to observe it closely, you will see it’s just there like this puppy, which is not at all frightening. Everything is about your perception, the way you see things. Don’t you agree?