However, consider this: “Fear is a natural, powerful, and
primitive human emotion. It involves a universal biochemical response as well as a high
individual emotional response. Fear alerts us to the presence of danger or the
threat of harm, whether that danger is physical or psychological.” https://www.verywellmind.com/the-psychology-of-fear-2671696#:~:text=Fear%20is%20a%20natural%2C%20powerful,danger%20is%20physical%20or%20psychological.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by fear -
so much so that it prevented you from doing something you wanted to do? Believe it or not, this is a common problem
faced by many people in their daily lives.
Fear (even if imagined or perceived) has
the power to hold you back from taking risks, following your dreams, or
becoming successful at anything you attempt to do. If you allow it to control you for long
enough, it can eventually erode your quality of life and keep you locked in a
prison of inactivity.
What many people fail to realize is that
fear is nothing more than a conditioned response. It's a natural reaction to a frightening or
unfamiliar situation. While it is
usually automatic, there are things you can do to overcome it.
1) Check your expectations.
One major contributor of fear is the prevalence
of negative expectations. Do you usually
find yourself expecting the worst in every situation? Do you worry obsessively about what could
go wrong, rather than focusing on your strengths and capabilities? Are you one of those people who have given in
to the power of the Murphy’s law (typically stated as: “Anything that can go
wrong will go wrong!”)?
If you make a conscious effort to expect
the best, see the positive side of each situation and keep
reminding yourself that you can handle more than you often think, you'll
find yourself with much less fear to deal with whatever situations may come
your way. Even if feelings of fear do
manage to creep into your consciousness, you'll still be able to keep them in
perspective and balance them against an underlying sense of confidence.
2) Discredit your fears.
Experts will tell you that the majority of
things you fear will never come to pass anyway. While this may be true, it sure doesn't feel
that way when fear has a chokehold on you!
However, if you look a little more closely at your fears when they
arise, you may be able to dismiss at least a few.
For example, if you have a fear of public
speaking and your boss wants you to give a presentation at work, you might feel
like your life (and perhaps your livelihood) is on the line. You may fear getting fired, or worry that
your colleagues will lose respect for you if you don't do a good job. There may be any number of concerns that may
fill your mind with anxiety and fear!
But is any of this likely to happen? In most cases, no. Rather than worrying about what "might"
happen if you don't give a solid presentation, you might brainstorm ways to
help improve your performance, such as being well prepared, practicing your
delivery on friends and family members, writing notes to yourself and so on.
3) Do the very thing you fear.
When you remember that fear is simply a
feeling, it loses much of its power. It
can't harm you and except in truly threatening situations you can choose to
ignore it and move forward anyway.
If you weigh the pros and cons in any
situation, you may decide that the possibility of negative consequences is
minimal so there's nothing to stop you from ignoring your fear and going for
it! This will be determined by you on a
case-by-case basis, of course. The point
isn't to become reckless with your decision-making but rather to empower
yourself to know when a fear is groundless and easily overcome. An article that might be helpful can be found
at https://www.verywellmind.com/healthy-ways-to-face-your-fears-4165487
The simple truth to all our fears,
anxieties, frets, and whatever there is that puts us into those very
uncomfortable positions is the fact that we’re only human!
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"If you first master your fears,
you can master anything!"
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