We’re always afraid of something. It’s part of our human nature and it’s a survival instinct. When we’re afraid of something we tend to avoid that thing or to run away from it, which will strengthen both the fear and our response to it.
However, fear is just an emotion, just like joy. It’s not our boss to tell us what to do, but somehow it does. Fear triggers the fight or flight mode and we behave based on previous similar situations. If we’re used to run away, that’s what we’re going to do.
I like lists and if you like them too, you’re my kind of person. Therefore, I’m going to write down some reasons why I think fear is important:
- Repetitive similar response to similar situations create habits and once a habit is in place, it’s very hard to break; so our response to fear will determine and strengthen similar responses to future similar situations;
- Fear signals areas of improvement, so if we’re afraid of something it’s because we’re not used to that thing and we need to make some changes so we can handle that particular type of situation;
- Fear makes us feel like shit after the situation ends (if we run away). If you think about the past situations in which you are afraid and you ran away, how does that make you feel? Is there some regret involved? Have you ever been proud of you because you ran away or avoided a particular situation because of fear? I don’t think so.
- Fear is a dream killer, which is actually the biggest blocker people can face. Every other excuse like money, time, the lack of resources or whichever excuse people like to tell so they won’t start pursuing their dreams comes from fear (fear of failure which is related with fear of judgement).
- Fear lowers our self-esteem. As mentioned above, you won’t be happy and satisfied about the way you behave because of fear. You’ll probably have some regrets and what’s even more important, you’ll probably think about “What kind of person am I if I ………… because of fear?” The good thing is that if we confront our fear, our self-esteem will raise because we know it takes courage to go against whatever we’re afraid of.
Fear is just a moment in time whilst our life is bigger. Yes, fear is very important because it has the power to steer the course of our life, but only if we let it decide that. If we jump on the steering wheel with courage, the dragon called fear has no chance.
How many important decisions did fear took instead of you in your life?