When I was interned in Dr. Eiras Hospital, I began to have panic crises.
One day, I decided to consult the psychiatrist in charge of my case:
“Doctor, I am overcome by fear; it takes from me the joy of living”.
“Here in my office there is a mouse that eats my books”, said the doctor.
“If I get desperate about this mouse, he will hide from me and I will do nothing else in life but hunt him.
“Therefore, I put the most important books in a safe place and let him gnaw some others.
“In this way, he is still a mouse and does not become a monster.
“Be afraid of some things and concentrate all your fear on them – so that you have courage in the rest.”
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Wise, indeed! =)
Our world is truly filled with beauty. So, we might as well focus on the wonderful things! Let the mouse be a mouse; let the fear just be an emotion! After all, it can propel us to move forward. =)
With Love,
Guia de Leon
Avid Coelho Fan ^_^
Wonderful advise ! You are my Guru Master Paulo Coelho … thank you much.
Un poco de raticida no habría venido mal… ;)
why babies does not have fear ?
regardez un bebe de quelques mois , il essai tout : manger,marcher,parler,jouer..il echou et recommence des milliers de fois sans jamai avoir peur de tomber ou de se faire mal … et pourquoi en grandissant on devient peureux,hesitant,et anxieux ?
car les parents,les instuteurs,les gens communiquent aux bebe’ leurs peurs,leurs incertitudes..et par suite bloquent ces petits anges..
la peur ancestrale celle de la survie existe et elle est normale et elle commune a tous les animaux …mais les autres peurs sont fabriquaient pour nous eloigner de la vie simple et honnete qui naisse avec nous et qui est donne’ et soufle’ par notre createur.
nice story, but if we concentrate all our dears on a few things, aren’t those things going to become monsters and stop us from living happily ?…
have little change in you message…..Then beleive me you can overcome all fears in your life.
Have fear of GOD the almighty and his sayings ( read his manufactures manual)the holy book QURAN.
He will take away all other fears from you provided you are sincere and tune up your living as he want you to do.
Thanks for this story, it’s really helpful. Much love from Belgium
That’s true..we fear for the things that we shouldn’t, lost the truth in midst of fear..cause fear has its power which given by us, not by the fear itself. Thanks Mr. Paulo, for redefining fear :-).
Short,sweet and encouraging……..
thank you! this is just lovely :)
Loved the mouse story:-)
Me myself, I am doing kayakcourses, in the begining some pupils are a scared of water and cap sizing. But it is all about feeling secure, and practice on it. Step by step, they are becoming friend with their boat and the sea, the fear disapear. In day two everybody have fun, and don´t want to end the course.
Great message, playfully brought. I myself already went THROUGH a lot of fear and pain, but this is enlightening how to deal with the ‘persistent’ ones. Thanks a lot!
My biggest fear right now, if I’m completely changed who I am? How can I accept that? I want to know? In someway feels great to feel who you are? But?????????
Thank you Paulo, for me it gives me insight to conquer my fear!
Thank YOU Mr. Paulo Coelho, really interisting ;)
its said that actions are louder than words…but i guess such short yet crisp set of words is going to be the trigger for the very brave acts for most of us!!:)
y q pasara si el raton ya no se satisface con las sobras????
I love it!!!! Straight to the point and its really true… Just Love the advice… Put it aside and live life and if you need to visit that fear you can have the courage to do so but in a certain timing you decide you control fear and not letting it control your life… Thank you i love it :)
EL MIEDO ES ALGO ADQUIRIDO Y COMO TAL PUEDE DESAPARECER SOLO DEPENDE DE NOSOTROS DE LA VALENTIA QUE TENGAMOS DE SACAR ESE TEMOR DE NUESTRAS VIDAS SEA CUAL FUERE LA NATURALEZA DEL MIEDO………MUCHOS DE NOSOTROS SOMOS COBARDES Y PREFERIMOS VIVIR CON LOS MIEDOS POR SIEMPRE
I have been waiting for an admission into an university for three months now. The fear of not getting an admission has been eating me up. I always wake up with checking my email the first thing I do. And I do it with a lot of anxiety. But this read has changed that. Thanks a lot Paulo
s i had real courage to say this to my friend who had realy some problems in her life . I could not solve , but could make her think on it.
interesting story, i like it, and to tell you the truth fear is sometihng that we kinda don`t understand it until we findout what it is hehehe. So i got in that type of thing called fear and it is very detrimental for the bearer of it, it kills all desires to live, have joy and gaine new friends, it makes people to hide inside themselves and the reaon to that is that it comes when we are more vulnerable, fear is a negative force that enters the psych to destroy the people, but once we find that out we gelt hold of it and give it a big kick, but it takes determination to do so, i was fearless until y tried to hold on to things that did not wanted to be held on to and it nearly destroyed me, now i am up and i am on the road to fly with my own wings, but it doesn`t come easy it takes to be wanting to die, yes wanting to die, be miserable fall of panick, sorrow pain, delutionment and much much more get to the bottom of the barrell once you are there there is no more down the bototn the only way out is up and forwards yeiiiiliiing very loud for help to the hiegher power ot ocme and recue us that is called divine intervention, some people do no believe that but that is the only way, ot realize that we are no alone here and that it is something beger than us that has the ability to pull us up through the spirit. Good night brothers and sisters.. i love the story paulo you always come up with beauty…
CREO QUE EN ESTE MOMENTO ME SIENTO ASI, EN PANICO, Y A VECES NO TENGO GANAS DE SEGUIR ADELANTE, PERO MIRO HASTA DONDE EH LOGRADO LLEGAR, SUSPIRO MIRO AL CIELO, VEO QUE EL UNIVERSO INFINITO EXISTE, Y CONTINUO CAMINANDO
Thank You Mr. Coelho so very much, because you gave Liz the words to say to help as well as your story…Wonderful Paulo Coelho, fantastic Liz…
Muchas gracias por hacer que pensemos las cosas y tomemos conciencia
Muy interesante la parábola.
Detecto el miedo, lo admito y lo “pongo en un lugar” que no ocupe toda mi mente.
Puedo aprender a vivir con is miedos, si los acepto… uno por uno.
EN PRIMER LUGAR, NO TEMO A LOS RATONES, PERO SI TEMO A AQUELLOS QUE DEVORAN LIBROS, A AQUELLOS QUE MONSTRUOSAMENTE SABEN TANTO QUE NO ENSEÑAN NADA, A AQUELLOS QUE LES LLEVA A LA LOCURA TANTA LECTURA, TENGO MIEDO DE ESOS QUE CREEN QUE LO SABEN TODO.
thanks it helps a lot!
Such a simple way of handling fear. Only if its implementation was so easy.
amazing!!! I’m afraid of somethings in life, and now I feel much better, cause I sent my fears on other things!!
Acho que o nome disto é discernimento e feliz do ser humano que consegue te-lo. É um dom. Dele é que brota o ser sábio.
Hi Dr. Coelho:
This is a beautiful piece and a great advice!!!!!
To me, a fear is just a limiting thought. One that could be evaluated and shifted according to our deepest desires. In order to do that it is necessary to face it, to feel it and to say goodbye to it, being certain that… if it ever comes back, you already have the power to silence it, to dispose it and to apply the teaching that once came with it…
Paulo os monstros da vida não são os elefantes, mas ratos que comem livros. Parabéns, Abraços- Eugênio C. Martins
A beautiful short story that tells me it’s okay to keep the worrier busy working on something unimportant to free the creator to work on the important things!
Thank you!
“In this way, he is still a mouse and does not become a monster. ” – like it very much. And I find it very true, You have to face your fears, to fight and to not let the fear to take control of You, otherwise You can become a prisoner of Your own fearful mind, and this will lead to holding a demon inside You.
This is truly uplifting. my greatest fear is failure…but having read this, i kinda get a new perspective of dealing with my fear rather than letting it control me & keep me from achieving what i set to do.
very interesting.there are a lot quotes about fear, but this is really specific. helps a lot.thanks
Is very interesting the 20 seconds reading . Thank You very much Mr. Paulo COelho!!
I love I love
Thanks a lot Paulo. I had this urgent need to get a solution for my problem that my fear doesnt let me do anything productive. In this post I just got my answer. Thanks again…
If only everyone could balance their lives, and see wich problems are more importaint, and start solving them instead of crying and feeling helpless…the world would be a better place.
yes i agree with you katja ^^
I felt like that for a long time – surely we need some fear to stay alive!?
What I’ve found is letting go of all fear means I can decide what to do more easily in the present.
Years ago someone suggested I lose my fear/anxiety and if I didn’t like the result I could always get it back. It worked for me….
There is plenty of evidence that a habit of fear limits our chances of a happy and sustainable life. It also ages us before our time and cripples us – mind, body and spirit.
Concerned for me (and the change in me) other people tried to give me their fear and it was hard to stand up to their influence, especially parents and teachers.
My spiritual belief is simple: my God only wants me to be happy. Following my heart calms my mind and takes a lot of the fear and indecision out of it. Trusting that I will have whatever I need to be happy gives me the power to continue in this way.
This works for me and it is so helpful to hear someone else voice this. Thanks Liz
Im totally agree! Thnk you because it happen to help me what you think, thank you!
Liz, u have amazing way of writing and delivering your message, strong flow but gentle mode…i enjoy reading ur comments a lot…:)
cheer
Toka :)
A wise one ones told me that when I get afraid instead of running away or hiding from it I should turn around and face my fear. It took quite some practice but once I got the hang of it more often than not my fear vanished into thin air and it turned out that I had nothing to be afraid of in the first place. At the very least my fear stayed the way it was but I took away its ability to overwhelm me.
Love
Lina
Excelente Escrito Paulo!!
Fenomenal, lo leeré una y otra vez.
Cada uno de vuestros escritos son fenomenales y ayudan a comprender de una forma más modesta lo que ocurre en nuestro entorno
Saludos desde Colombia!
LE TENGO PANICO A LOS RATONES., SI APARECE UNO ME DESHAGO DE EL TAL COMO CON LOSMIEDOS Q ME PERTURBAN
muy buena historia. creo que todos somos en algun momento los protagonistas. muchas veses me he sentido asi con miedo a todo. pero es verdad si dejamos qque el miedo nos desespere terminara por destruir nuestra vida, en cambio hay que enfrentarlo poco a poco y dejar de pensar simplemente actuar y remediar la situacion, se dice que lo unico imposible en esta vida es la muerte y aun asi despues de ella tenemos la vida eterna.animo y adelante.
dios los bendiga en especial a nuestros hermanos en Japon.
whichever times we give importance to smaller problems and we do not have the value of surpassing them
…out of the corner of my eye I saw a spot go flying by…Oh’ please say no, this can’t be.. a little mouse to visit me…I’m left to fret…has he had fun..did he make a mess…I’ll come undone..Should I set a trap..his end to be…Little mouse don’t visit me…
I am not sure if this is synchronicity or what, but I just happened to see a mouse last night in my bed room, when I wrote this poem. I have been living in dread and avoidance all day on what I should do. I know mice can be massively destructive in a very short time, but I hate to kill him. Oh! what to do, what to do? My head says yes, my heart says no. :(
Follow your heart, please don’t kill the little mouse, we have no right to take life, in the same way we cannot give life. It does not belong to us. Let him be a little mouse…
When there is a conflict between your mind and your heart, just think how many times a day we change our mind over all sorts of things, without even noticing it, and instead how painful and suffered a change of heart is… Follow your heart, it won’t let you down. :-)
when fear inhabits us, it becomes very protal, it kills every joy within ourselves, and when it grows our hopes and dreams shrinks. and by time, we forget that fear made us that sad and miserable, we start believing that this is who we are and have always been, so our self respect becomes less and less untill we lose it all, and here when depression starts attacking us, so we are doomed.
Dear SOSO, joy is,pain is, fear is, death is because we are.WE WERE BORN AND WE EXIST. Let it pass,let it go and if still, you feel like saying I want love–drop I,drop want and you will be left with love and only love.
EL MIEDO … LA OBSESIÓN … :PÁNICO… EL MIEDO.. SON LOS FACTORES EXTERNOS EN LOS QUE UNO SIEMPRE ESTÁ EXPUESTO.. O SEA EL RATÓN, IR EN BUSCA DE ANIQUILAR DICHOS FACTORES… ES IR HACIA LA LOCURA…(MONSTRUO )UNO TIENE QUE CONVIVIR EN UN MUNDO DONDE ESTARÁ EXPUESTO.. Y EL RESULTADO ES CUIDAR LO QUE + ES IMPORTANTE …UNO NO ES DIOS QUE PUEDE TENER TODAS LAS VARIANTES DE LA VIDA EN SUS MANOS.. EN ESTA VIDA TRANSITAMOS APRENDIENDO QUE SE GANA Y SE PIERDE.. el temor también paraliza que en su defecto sería un ataque de pánico desactivando toda emoción.. pero que dura poco y esto nos deja indefensos .. me encantó la conclusión del médico … un hombre sabio… respuesta para un ser muy inteligente … un abrazo
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