Fear has ruled much of my life. And when I say ruled, I mean it has occupied a majority of my day.
Fear shows up in extremes—at its peak, it feels life-threatening. But more often, it lingers as a low-grade irritant: something not going the way I want, or even the anticipation of having to do something at all. Upcoming events—whether real or imagined—can consume nearly all of my thinking.
It’s said we have around 50,000 thoughts a day, and most of them are repeated. The same loops, the same narratives, playing over and over. In many ways, we live inside a movie we don’t know how to turn off.
I remember as a child—and later as a parent—watching something scary on TV. When it became overwhelming, a parent would gently remind us, “It’s only a movie. It’s not real.”
And yet, as adults, we forget.
In The Untethered Soul, there’s this idea that we become immersed in a world created by our own mind. It’s as if we are watching a movie, but instead of sitting back as the observer, we step into the screen and believe we are the character. Every thought, every emotion feels like us.
Mooji speaks to this beautifully—reminding us that the true observer has no form, no eyes, yet is always present, quietly aware in the background. The real “you” is not in the scene, but the one watching it.
That shift is not easy. It goes against a lifetime of habit. But I’ve started practicing something simple: when fear rises, I pause and say to myself, “John, you’re not there. Or at least, not there yet.”
That small step creates space.
To step back is to return inward—to the place where God has always been. Beneath the noise, beneath the fear, beneath the constant mental motion.
We are not our fears.
We are not our emotions.
We are the awareness behind them.
When Moses asked God who He was, the answer came: “I AM WHO I AM.”
There’s something profound in that. Not just about God—but about us. Beneath everything the mind produces, there is a simple, unchanging truth of being.
No matter how far the mind runs, no matter how convincing the fear feels, it cannot change what we are at our core.
We have been given the gift of being—of awareness itself. And that essence is untouched by the storms of thought. It is steady, timeless, and rooted in something far greater than anything the mind can create.
Fear may visit.
But it does not define who we are.
And maybe that’s the quiet invitation—to stop fighting every thought, and instead return to the One who never moves. To rest, even for a moment, in the truth that we are held, not by our understanding, but by His presence.
Scripture
“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” — 2 Timothy 1:7
“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” — 1 Peter 5:7
Prayer
Lord,
Help me to recognize when fear begins to take hold, and give me the awareness to step back from it. Remind me that I am not my thoughts, and that You are always present beneath them. Teach me to rest in You, to trust You, and to return again and again to that quiet place where fear has no authority.
Amen.
