How Fear Fuels Most of Our Thoughts—And What Happens When We See It

Yesterday, while meditating, I realised: all these thoughts that are coming up are the result of underlying fear. I’ve actually had this realization many times: almost all of my thoughts arise from fear. They are attempts to resolve imagined outcomes, to prevent something from going wrong, to secure a future that doesn’t exist. At first, this seemed almost absurd—but the more I looked, the more obvious it became.

What’s interesting is that every time I see this, I notice something deeper: Oh! this too was fear. At first, it’s about big, obvious worries. Then subtler ones. Then, eventually, even the recognition itself can appear as another layer of the same pattern. If there’s any sense of needing to fix it or make it go away, then the mind is still subtly caught in fear.

But here’s the shift: when fear is simply seen, without resistance, without trying to change it, it often dissolves on its own. Not because you made it go away, but because awareness itself makes fear irrelevant. When you’re fully present with it, it loses its grip.

Sitting with the Sensation Beneath Thought

Sometimes, though, fear stays. It lingers, not because you don’t see it, but because there’s something deeper; often an old wound or unresolved emotion, for me frequently something from childhood. In those moments, I’ve found that instead of engaging with the thoughts, it helps to just sit with the raw sensation of fear itself.

For me, this often shows up in my chest, a kind of subtle hurt. But it can be anywhere, or even nowhere in particular. The key is to be with it, without analysis, without trying to escape. Just presence. And over time, without effort, it loosens.

The Takeaway: What If There Was Never Anything to Fear?

At its core, fear is a misunderstanding. It’s based on the belief that something is wrong, that we are at risk, that we need to control life to be safe. But what if that was never true?

For just a moment, try this perspective: What if everything is always taken care of? What if there was never actually anything to worry about?

Right here, right now, nothing is actually wrong. Even fear itself is just another appearance, another movement of life. And when all fear ceases, what remains is what has always been here: awareness, peace, freedom.

So next time fear-driven thoughts arise, don’t rush to fix them. Just see them. And if they don’t dissolve right away, sit with the sensation beneath them. Over time, the illusion of fear loses its hold, and what remains is something beyond words—just this.