As the old saying goes ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself’.
Now honestly, that could not be more true. So today I wanted to chat with y’all about how fear can be both a good thing, as well as bad. Along with that, I want to share with you some circumstances of how fear can hold us back from living our best lives and even unlocking our greatest potential. I will give you just a few of the most common reasons for this.
So let’s jump into it shall we?!
To start this off I really want to give you a good understanding of what the general definition of fear really is: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat to ones self.
Now I bring this up simply for the fact that fear can manifest itself in so many ways and even make us feel so many unrelated emotions. But in reality fear is not always a bad thing, there is such a thing as healthy fear. Basically a healthy fear doesn’t affect your daily life per-say, but is actually caused by real threats. This tends to only last as long you’re in danger, then most times, you forget about the fear once the danger is over.
The place where fear starts to become an issue for us as human beings, is when we start to let the irrational fears control our lives, which in turn stunts or halts any growth that we may be working towards. I know some of you may be thinking how do I know if this is happening to me? Well I will share a few examples to give you an idea of how it could affect someone’s life.
One example of this that I hear and see a lot, is the fear of uncertainty or fear of the unknown – the great news is that there is a fix for when this issue is holding you back in life, and that is learning to anticipate what will happen in the future. Now this is a strength that can be developed to help you take the first big step when you feel the fear of uncertainty. But along with that Vision is what will keep you moving forward regardless of your fears. In whatever you do, anticipation and vision are both necessary ingredients to fight the fear of uncertainty in life.
Another common example of an irrational fear would be the fear of change. The one thing we must learn is that to be content with the shift’s of life, or if we are to find inner peace and passion when everything else is changing (because let’s face it, life is always changing whether we want it to or not), then getting real worried about change before it happens does nothing but rob us of the present joy we could and should be experiencing in our lives. Yes, life is ever-evolving, so we do need to prepare for what is to come, but this should also remind us of the need to take life as it comes, one minute, one hour and most importantly one day at a time. We may not be able to fully control the future but what we can do is worry about the NOW and then concurrently prepare for the future.
With all of this being said, one thing that I have personally started to do in my own life to help control, combat and stop these irrational fears from constantly controlling my life like they used, to might actually sound obvious to some, but I set aside 15 minutes every single day to journal about what is bothering me and some of the fears that are on my mind. By doing this you can help yourself to realize what is holding you back and just how often it is an issue for you. Once you know what issues you are facing you can then implement or learn the right skills to be able to battle the problem effectively, therefore keeping your life productive, positive and moving forward with your dreams, goals and biggest aspirations.
Well that is my two cents about facing your fears and not letting them control the direction of your life.
I hope that you found at least some of this helpful. If you liked it, let me know, because there is so much more than can be said on the subject as well as so many more daily examples and how to fight them.
I will leave you with this question – What is your biggest fear in your life currently?
Do you know how to control it effectively in a healthy manner?
Thanks for checking out today’s post and remember, always be kind to others as well as yourself, be safe and have a great rest of your day.
-Matthew-
