When Fear Writes the Story

I almost let fear win today.

Not because something terrible happened.

Because my mind created a story, and I started believing it.

In Buddhism, there is a figure called Mara. Mara represents the fear, doubt, craving, and illusion that pull us away from seeing things clearly.

Mara doesn’t always show up as something obvious.

Sometimes Mara sounds like your own voice.

Telling you that someone can’t be trusted.

Convincing you that you know what another person is thinking.

Taking a little uncertainty and building an entire story around it.

That’s what happened to me.

The mortgage industry can be cutthroat. People compete. Relationships can feel transactional. Sometimes people tell you what you want to hear because they want something from you.

If you’ve been in this business long enough, you learn to protect yourself.

But protection can become suspicion.

And suspicion can make you question people who have never given you a reason to question them.

I let that happen with a friend of mine.

This is someone who has been there for me. Someone whose actions have earned my trust.

But instead of remembering the history of the relationship, I started listening to the fear in my own mind.

I started filling in blanks.

I started treating assumptions like facts.

And the truth is, I didn’t even fully see what I was doing until my friend made me aware of it.

That part wasn’t comfortable.

But I needed it.

I needed someone I trust to hold up a mirror and show me that the threat I was reacting to wasn’t necessarily real.

My mind had created it.

That doesn’t mean we should blindly trust everyone.

Trust should be earned.

But when someone has consistently shown up for you, don’t let fear erase that history.

Don’t let one story created in your own head outweigh years of actions.

People you can truly trust are hard to find...especially in a world that always seems to be competing.

When you find them, remember who they are.

And when fear starts telling you a different story, pause long enough to ask:

Is this true?

Or is this just my mind trying to protect me from something that isn’t actually happening?

Today, I almost forgot.

I’m grateful my friend cared enough to help me see it.