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Decluttering Fear: Finding Power, Love, and Self-Control

By Dave Canovas

The world we live in today often feels like it thrives on fear.

For an idea or a person to grab attention or make headlines, they have to be the loudest, the most controversial, the riskiest, or the most sensational. And fear—fear is what sells. Think about the news we consume. With life becoming increasingly fast-paced, the front page is what hooks us, and the scarier it is, the more it draws us in.

Out of all the fears that society stirs up, the one that troubles me most is the fear of being disliked—or not being enough. I think about the young people of today, including my two teenage daughters. How do we teach them that they are already enough? How do we help them see that chasing the latest trends or having the “best” won’t truly bring them ahead in life? How do we help them navigate this culture of fear and come out stronger? This is no small challenge.

If you are someone who struggles with anxiety or fear, please know this: the world around you will never be the antidote. Trying to fill that void by giving in to its demands is like pouring water into a bottomless pit—it will never be satisfied.

Instead, to overcome our fears, we need to embrace simplicity and let go of the excess.

Before you click, before you buy, take a moment to pause and reflect. Impulsive buying, as many of us know, may bring fleeting satisfaction, but it often leads to regret or even stress afterward. The same goes for click-baits—they are traps, deliberately set to provoke anger, envy, or fear. Consider the motives behind these traps: they are rarely about your well-being.

As I said, this is a battle—one against habits and thought patterns ingrained over years. Breaking free won’t be easy, but remember this: we were not created to live in fear. As 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Stay watchful. As it says in 1 John 4:1:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Let’s take these words to heart and lead lives that are rooted in faith, clarity, and love.

Aloneness

Dave Canovas

I believe there are three kinds of aloneness.

The first is the solitude you experience during a quiet morning walk, noticing everything from the mundane to the extraordinary around you. In this state, your emotions may shift between apathy and fleeting happiness—a peaceful yet transient form of aloneness.

The second kind is when you appear outwardly calm, yet chaos brews within. Oblivious to your surroundings, you are consumed by the voices in your head—self-critical, introspective, or even prideful. This type of aloneness can lead to emotional outbursts, cravings, or obsessions, but it may also spark moments of creativity and productivity.

The third and most challenging form is being alone and lonely. This is the kind of aloneness that breaks hearts. It occurs when you feel disconnected from the world, believing your life is as insignificant as a speck of dust. Some struggle to emerge from this deep solitude.

Yet, of all these phases, being alone and lonely holds the potential to be the most liberating. When you strip away all worldly attachments, you may come to realize that there is one constant presence—God. He stands by you, becoming the only world truly worth keeping.

Even Jesus experienced a poignant moment of aloneness before His crucifixion, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane as His disciples slept. As He foresaw His impending betrayal and death, He pleaded, “Father…remove this cup.” In this moment of profound anguish, we see a glimpse of our own struggles mirrored in Him.

But Jesus endured. His resurrection is a powerful reminder that we are never truly alone in our loneliness or suffering.

No matter how deep our pain, Jesus is always at the center of it, offering hope and companionship.