Fear is not something people like to discuss. It is a taboo subject for a public conversation. Most people prefer to project themselves as a fearless person. Even with social media where people share so much, people do not want to accept that they have fears, comfortable in sharing their vulnerabilities, and discuss how to deal with them. It seems to have any fear is considered a sign of weakness and strong people must be devoid of any fears. So, is it really so bad to have any fear, and if you do have any fear or fears then what to do?
I have no hesitation in accepting that I am not a fearless person. I have some fears that I cannot get rid of, no matter how much I try. According to me, fear is an emotion like any other emotion and it is one of the reasons for our existence on this planet. Our ancestors were fearful of many things and that's why they survived many hostile and dangerous situations that many fearless creatures didn't. So, it is natural and humane to be fearful. There is a reason why our evolution didn't get rid of this emotion. However, it is not good to be overburdened by our fears all the time. This overburdening of fearfulness can either debilitate us or affect our personal and professional lives in a bad way. However, if we use our fears as energy, then it can fuel our actions to deal with them. I can't get rid of all my fears as it is impossible for me to do it. The more I try the more they persist. To avoid this consuming and tiring exercise of getting rid of all my fears, I try to walk with my fears that I cannot get rid of and use them as checkpoints or motivators to do something better. I have some fears that accompany me, but none of them hinder my day-to-day life, many of them protect me from doing things that may hurt me. By being aware of my fears, I do not allow them to walk ahead of me but let them walk behind me and use them to fuel my actions. I try to use them as a shield rather than treating them as my enemies. For example, when I am fearful of making a decision I do extra scrutiny and try to get more information before taking that decision; when I am fearful of my prejudices, I check my statements and behavior more often to make sure I am not falling to prey to propaganda; and when I am fearful of failure or committing a mistake, I tell myself that failures and mistakes are part of our lives and it is important to learn our lesson from them and move on.
Even though people prefer to project themselves as a fearless person one can see that they are actually fearful inside. Especially, in today's world we can see people's fears even when they try to mask them cleverly. Hate politics is one such example. All these so-called tough and fearless people openly use fear to fuel hate among their supporters. These leaders create fictitious enemies to cultivate feelings of fear and use this fear to instill hate. This is an ideal example of the misuse of fear for political rewards. It is true, that fear and the resulting hate have been a potent political weapon for years that's why I am not talking just about today's polarized political climate but I am talking about the politics of hate in general.
Having fear does not make us weak, similarly, being fearless doesn't make us strong. Having fear is not bad, allow your fear to come in, remember, the more you resist the more it persists. Allow your fear to come in, but do not allow it to lead, keep it as a companion. Fear is a form of energy that we can use either for our benefit or detriment, the choice is ours. We can allow them to walk behind or with us as our companions and use them whenever necessary to take some protective steps or we can allow them to overpower us and dictate our every action. The choice is ours because the fear is ours.
Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic.
© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com
