Sources of Fears and Anxieties

Is it possible at all to overcome completely or banish fear and exaggerated insecurity from our world? If we could the human race will be perfectly happy.

Children have two fears, falling down and loud noises. They pass through these childhood fears and for the most part overcome them. Our experience teaches us that many fears are groundless and we protect ourselves from unreasonable fears. Our imagination and environment lead us to see dangers where there are really none or they are magnified a hundredfold.

Certain horrifying impressions come from anxieties and fears whether stemming from conversations heard, movies watched or having a vivid imagination. The residual outcome of this is one begins to suffer from insecurities or feelings of anxieties. Further more, when the idle mind engages in things seen, it tends to fill the mind with anxiety images, altering the mind and provoking alterations such as physical inhibitions; trembling, contraction of blood vessels, pallor, shortness of breath, panting, palpitations etc.

Fear is the dark monster which resides in the subconscious mind. The more hidden it is and not brought to light the more it has power over us. The best offense is to expose our fears and root it out from its source.

Fear may stem from approaching danger, whether real or imaginary. It may arise from anticipated doom, misfortune, and or the inability to cope with pending fear. Take for instance an individual who has to speak to a large audience, all of whom have their eyes fixed on him/her. If unprepared or insecure, they will be terrified and alarmed at the prospect of speaking. One is literally shaken up. The memory of this experience can be terrifying.

Let us take this fear to the next level. The fear that comes from imminent serious danger. Panic can take over and result in anarchy into our thoughts, feelings and actions. Such fear could even lead to paralysis of all of our powers. Example of this will be the type of confusion and panic witnessed in time of natural disaster, earthquake, fire or floods.

Fear is an emotion difficult to mask or control because we do not know what we fear or why we are afraid, as in phobias, anxieties or groundless fears. Sometimes we are unable to control these fears. What are some of your fears and where do they stem from? Are these transferred to us or learned. Discovering what they are we can then begin to control them.

If we are conscious of this fear, we may be able to take the following steps to overcome it.

1. Before all else, ACT. Fear already tends to inhibit our activities so we must not assist it by remaining inactive, but, on the contrary overcome fear by acting.
2. Make them CONCRETE: Illuminate those dark crevices. Write out your fears. Take your time to answer these questions: “What or who am I afraid of? And Why?” When our fears and anxieties are made concrete and viewed objectively, it is destroyed, it ceases to have power over us.
3. Reason about them. So we rationalize here, and think it through, what are the probabilities that this thing will happen and if it does, then what? What is the worst thing that can happen?
4. Face up to them. Let us take this further, so what if “it” happens, then what? There are others who have gone through similar things and they lived through it, and have gone on to be happy people. When we imagine the worst possible natural evil that could happen to us and sincerely accept it and so find a human or divine intervention or solution for it, we shall be victorious over exaggerated fear.
5. Avoid unnecessary scrupulosity, which makes present what is in the future or anticipates disasters. We must avoid making present the future for it disfigures the beauty of the present moment. Let the past be in the past, live in the present moment for tomorrow has enough problems of its own.

For those who have faith, the great remedy is a concrete and heroic confidence in God who can and will aid the fearful. “Fear not, what is needed is trust” and again Perfect love casts out fear” He commands us not to fear, not even of those who can kill the body.

Another remedy is to have confidence and persevere in prayer which obtains whatever it asks for.