She settled into her bed, comfy and cozy, wrapped like a burrito with her favorite quilt. The day had been long and hectic and after a hot bath, she relished the chance to sink into the safety of her bed to replenish her energy for the next busy day of activities.

She had just begun to drift into sleep when an unfamiliar sound jolted her from that detached in-between state to one of full hair-standing-on-end panic. She peered around the room toward the doorway hoping that maybe her mom had come into her room. But the door was closed and there was no sign of anyone standing in her room.

But as her eyes adjusted to the darkness in her room, she noticed that her closet door was opened slightly—though she is always careful to close it before getting into bed. Her heart began to race. How did the door open on its own? Her heart pounding, she readies herself to yell for her mom to come into her room because someone—or something must be in her closet. Just as she feels the tears beginning to form in her eyes, she considers that her parents might not make it to her in time. She is so overcome with terror that she throws the covers back to make a break for the door. At that moment she hears a loud crashing in the closet and the door flies open violently. She faints.

She awakes to her parents standing over her, having placed her back into her bed. “What happened?” she whispered. “Well, it looks like your gym bag fell in the closet, knocked your skateboard down, and pushed the door open,” her dad explained.

Okay, so, this was only a story. But this story serves as an illustration of both the physical and emotional effects that fear can have on a person. Her phantom was nothing more than a lack of tidiness which, admittedly, may be terrifying to someone, but not exactly a deadly threat.

Fear plays an important role in preserving life. However, when that fear is uninformed and or chronic, it can have a negative impact on life, both in quality and quantity. The purpose of fear, according to widely accepted scientific theory, is to alert one to any danger which may be life-threatening—the perception of which danger, prepares the body for fight or flight, the goal being to preserve life.

But when fear is unnaturally prolonged it creates a cascade of both physical and emotional problems. According to an article from the University of Minnesota, “The Impact of Fear and Anxiety”, fear left unchecked affects health in four ways:

Firstly, physical health is diminished as fear “weakens [the] immune system… [causes] gastrointestinal problems, decreases fertility, and even speeds the aging process.

Next, fear can obstruct one’s ability to establish “long-term memories and cause damage to the hippocampus” (“Impact of Fear”), which is the brain’s learning and memory formation center.

Third, fear impedes “the processes in our brain that allow us to regulate emotions, read non-verbal cues, and other information presented to us” (“Impact of Fear”), leading to an inability to make rational balanced-judgment decisions. This inevitably leads to knee-jerk response reactions based solely on emotionally-driven unreliable data.

Finally, the “Impact of Fear” article explains that the mental health impact of unbridled, chronic fear can include: “fatigue, clinical depression, and PTSD” (“Impact of Fear”) requiring professional mental health intervention.

The science is clear on the harmful physical and emotional effects that fear has on the mind and body. But we’re speaking chronic visceral fear and anxiety as it pertains to safety and preservation of life. So, to enjoy a good thriller or horror movie from time to time isn’t necessarily a health hazard—apart from the theater popcorn.

In the metaphysical/spiritual field, fear is viewed as a most disruptive phenomenon, acting as a block in one’s spiritual evolution. Fear is an incredibly powerful magnetic force, the only force which can oppose, and overcome fear is love. The belief is that the Law of Attraction is constantly at work in our lives, regardless of our awareness of it. The emotional seeds you sow set creation into motion. What you fear the most you will inevitably create or cause to become a material reality, much like the idea of the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy.’ You ruminate over, give thought energy to a perceived negative outcome with fear and eventually, you will experience that outcome.

Conversely, what you love the most, give energy and the nurture of your thoughts to and focus on with a sense of passion or excitement, you draw to yourself like a magnet. Your thoughts coupled with your emotions and expectations become a material creation of your own making. Consider this; everything created began as a thought in the mind of its creator.

In recent years, there has been a great deal of attention focused on the concept of the Law of Attraction, as evidenced by the wildly popular 2006 film and book by Rhonda Byrne, “The Secret”. Both the film and book sold 10’s of millions of copies and have been translated into 50 different languages, according to “The Secret’s” Wikipedia page.

For so many, the film and book exposed a dormant power within every human being and provided an introduction to a world that wasn’t necessarily tangible but seemingly real nonetheless. It seemed to tap into a kind of innate feeling of there has to be something more. And it set so many on a path of self-discovery.

For some critics, The Secret didn’t go far enough to adequately convey the root of the concepts of The Law of Attraction. For those immersed in the metaphysical community, it is obvious that this law is at work in our everyday lives and is evident in every aspect of reality from the everyday routine situations we encounter to those of greater concern like our financial status, health, and relationships. This law is at work in our lives regardless of our awareness of it or how it works.

Science and spiritually merge into agreement on a few ideas, the most important of which is the understanding that all material things are composed of energy, vibrating at different frequencies which form different objects or matter from rocks, soil, and plants to plankton, puppies, and humans. Everything is energy. Things vibrating at the same frequency are attracted to other things vibrating on that frequency, or in other words, “like attracts like.”

Whatever your focus (or vibration) is it acts like a beacon to attract the things which match your focus (vibration.) You can also think of your thoughts as seeds. Those seeds sprout into an emotion, and each emotion takes root for a plant that matches only that seed—tomato seeds do not produce apples. Plant seeds of love, that is, the things that you feel love toward, you draw more of the things you love to you like a magnet. The more you feed and water these seeds of “love”, the more love encounters you experience in your material reality.

The other side of this coin is, the more seeds of fear we plant the more fearful encounters we have—even hate is simply a by-product of fear.

Consider a mundane task like driving to get to an appointment on time. Perhaps you left later than you would’ve liked to and all you can think about is how late you are, and that you have to hurry or you’ll be late. Have you noticed how every traffic light is uncooperatively red? Every lane of traffic is occupied with people who are driving as if it’s all new to them. You change lanes to get to the one that’s moving more quickly, only to discover that lane is now slower? Have you ever stopped to wonder why that is?

Your thoughts, and therefore your vibration, are that of “delay” and “late.” You can only attract experiences that match this vibration. Don’t believe that? Here’s a challenge for you: the next time you leave later than you’d like, consciously engage in positive self-talk all along your route, “I’m going to be on time. All is well.” Say what you want to create, rather than what you want to avoid or prevent. It sounds like a weird thing to do, I know. But, just keep at it and see if you notice a difference.

The same phenomenon happens in your interactions with other people. If you begin expecting a negative experience in your interaction with a person ie., you played the scenario in your mind or you believe that “that’s how they are,” you will definitely have the negative experience—again, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the thing you fear the most will come upon you. But if you’re aware and make the conscious adjustment to your vibration, you will find that the situation shifts as well. It all starts with you and your awareness of what you are choosing.

This reminds me of a poster I saw once that read, “The grumpier you are the more a**holes you meet.” That’s just a funny (albeit profane) way to remind us to be responsible for our own vibration in any given moment. Ask yourself, “Am I focusing on, and therefore giving my creative energy to love or to fear?”

The emerging shift in awareness is proving The Law of Attraction to be more than a Genie’s magic lamp where we make a wish and wait for it to come true. Once you realize that you are co-creating your experiences, that you are the architect of your reality, you can open doors of change first, for yourself and your corner of the world, then extending outward to the collective. I get it, change is scary. It can be extremely difficult to challenge your way of thinking after having that way hardwired in your brain for so many years until it is a natural habit. But change is inevitable, and wouldn’t you rather that change be for your highest good? The only thing you have to lose by consciously choosing to let go of fear is fear.

In any given moment we can choose love (acceptance, peace, truth) or we can choose fear (prejudice, conflict, hate,) but once you know the power that you hold to shape your reality based on which thought vibration you choose, I hope that you decide to let fear go the way of the dinosaur and you choose love instead.