Afraid of Fear?
The title itself seems a bit ridiculous, right?
“Most of us are afraid of fear. We think it’s a bad thing. We know it’s a scary thing. We’re afraid of becoming afraid, scared of becoming scared.”
— Julia Cameron
Where does fear come from?
If you watch a child for long enough, you can see the answer unfold right before your eyes. You see them try things, fail, get burned, get told no, fall down, scrape their knee, and so on.
We become afraid of the things that burn us, give us pain, scrape our knees, and bruise our egos, because they hurt.
However, we forget that this pain is not a negative thing.
It’s a lesson.
Pain teaches us to look out, pay attention, understand the world around us and ourselves more intimately. Unfortunately, as we develop, a certain level of fear becomes associated with risk and we start avoiding risk because it can be painful.
But hold on a second…
When we fear risk and thus avoid it, we also risk the enthralling aliveness that fear and pain can bring into our lives.
Pain and pleasure are not so far apart in our brains, and some of the most beautiful, enjoyable experiences in our lives come from the most risky, potentially painful circumstances.
So, let’s stop being afraid of fear.
That doesn’t mean to stop experiencing fear, that means to embrace it, love it, thank the feeling for its attempt to keep you safe, and then move through it.
Isn’t there room for some cliché quote here? Idk, Will Smith rocked this topic pretty well:
