Feed the fear or chill?
That was the choice I had when things started getting a bit rocky in Bali a few months ago.
The UK government was urging all brits to fly home.
The Bali community was also hearing rumours of food shortage and societal breakdowns.
The UK media somehow leaked fake news of police on the beach with guns forcing everyone to lockdown.
Within weeks 95% of the population of Canggu, which a hub of tourism and expats, disappeared almost overnight.
It turns out that the majority of those people left Bali to fly back to countries with more risk of the virus and more severe sanctions, riots, and everything in between.
Meanwhile, Bali became a quieter, cleaner, and even more relaxing place than it was before!
Something I’ve learned over the last few years is that fear is the currency of control.
Fear can control and consume you, so don’t allow others to create fear in you.
Of course, be cautious, and make the best decision for you, but following the crowd usually doesn’t work, because ‘the crowd’ are often scared of most things – meaning ‘the crowd’ are controlled.
The people who fed into the fear and left Bali were unknowingly running into the line of fire back to countries with the highest death rate in the world, just because they were told to, or because everyone else was, whereas Bali, although seemingly unfamiliar and uncertain turned out to be more like a luxury 4-month private retreat!
So next time you feel yourself feeding into others’ fears, observe the masses, do the opposite, and decide not to allow fear to control you, and instead, make a conscious decision to chill instead.
