Fear is a human trait that has proved itself over the millennia. Back in ancient times when people were trying to survive they often used fear as a means of ensuring they checked their actions, motive, abilities, before committing themselves to a specific, often dangerous, act.
However, like all emotions, too much of this emotion can render a person incapable, and a nervous wreck! We begin to doubt if we are right to even contemplate certain actions; we allow our fears to override our need to carry out a specific task; we lose confidence in the whole issue, and in ourselves. In short, we become incapable of doing anything often resulting in others having to do the action for us.
Fear is the opposite of confidence. When afraid people feel they are wrong to even try to do something, yet when feeling confident they will boldly go whist others show fear. We all tend to think of confidence as something we should all possiess, but if we do show confidence are we right to do so? Could fear be a means of preventing us becoming too confident and so in the end destroying ourselves?
I believe it can, but fear, like any emotion, has to be kept within certain boundaries. Too much fear and we are in danger of being held rigid and accomplishing nothing; too little fear and we are in danger of being arrogant, taking too many unnecessary risks, whilst also often deriding those who believe that caution should at least be listened to if not always followed.
Fear can be a great motivator, or a detrimental limiter.
Today, certainly in the UK, but I also think in many other parts of the world, we are all being encouraged to be afraid.
One obvious subject is terrorism, and the fear that it might strike any moment right next to us and kill us - but considering we are born to die we should be grateful for every day we are alive and accept whenever death comes, as it most certainly will one day.
Another aspect, within the UK at least, is the fear of something fatal happening to our children if we don't keep them safe and secure. We strap them into their high chairs, like prisoners; we stop them playing outside in the street in case they are run over by a car; we ferry them to school, many of them in cars, causing mayhem for the buses which are trying to run to timetable and invariably fail, making everyone else late for work or their appointments. The "school run" is a definite situation on my country's roads. Whenever it is half term at school the traffic on the roads is dramatically less, and when school starts again traffic almost grinds to a halt.
I read an article whereby a writer in a newspaper admitted that she had followed all the food scares so literally that she had decided, out of fear and in the interest of her children, banned certain ingredients such as fat and sugar from her their diet. She woke up to the fact that she had allowed fear to hurt her children rather than help them. One of them started to grab bars of fat from a shop shelf and gnawed at it. Another grabbed a sugar cube in a restaurant and started to eat it. She began to question her own motives and attitudes, and realised that she, like many other parents, had allowed their love for their children to stop them learning for themselves how to work out what food is best for them, and what they should do if danger should strike, Her article was an attempt to alert others to the fact that it is possible to be too afraid, and that this is just as dangerous and not being afraid enough, or being too arrogant adopting a "it'll never happen to me or mine" attitude.
Fear is a useful emotional tool, but like all tools, there are times and places when we should not use them but put them to one side until an appropriate time arises.
Do you know when to be afraid?
be afraid, but ...
There are these biblical stories, when an angel comes down from the heavens with thunder and lightning. Then the angel says "be not afraid".
I say be afraid, but don't let it slow you down. Do what has to be done. Think calmly about what has to be done, at the same time as you are afraid. Sometimes nothing has to be done, then do nothing.
Don't panic.
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It is not how fast you go
it is when you get there.
Wise Earthling
Very wise words indeed, Earthling. Thank you for that reminder.
Carol A Noble
Be fearful of fear
I would like to write a script about a Sci-Fi movie, in which I would portray a society where medical advances have finally conquered disease and the aging process, and all the inhabitants of the Earth are virtually immortal.
It would be a society of people too afraid of walking out the door!
The only chance of dying would be due to accidents, so people would refrain from traveling or doing 'dangerous' activities like sports. You can die from a hit from a baseball after all, can't you?
So these immortals would settle with staying indoors and visiting imaginary fantasy worlds thanks to Virtual Reality. Sound familiar?
Yes, too little fear is reckless and dangerous, but IMO too much fear is even worse. With too little fear you risk death, with too much you risk not living!
I wish I wasn't such a coward, myself :-(
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
read this one
Read "return from the starts" by Stanislaw Lem. Live is not dangerous any more, and nobody is afraid. There is no violence any more. So people do all kinds of reckless things.
Except of course for the main character ("hero" is the wrong word), who just returned from a lengthy trip to the stars. He has been away for centuries, doesn't know the new pacified society.
----
It is not how fast you go
it is when you get there.
True
In many developed nations, the younger generations like extreme activities such as bungee jumping and the like. But I think that trend slows down as you get older and begin to measure the consequences of your recklesness. If that weren't the case, all Americans would keep celebrating Spring Break well over their 50s!
Well, actually, there is that Hedonism II resort I've been hearing about, so... ;-)
-----
It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
correction
Actually the book title is "Return from the Stars". Not "...starTs".
It is mildly interesting that could work either way.
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It is not how fast you go
it is when you get there.
I already wrote that one...
http://www.enigmni.com/Roc-EnigPg1.htm
I have written many about fear, all I can say is be afraid, be very afraid for we have much unknown facing our future. Unknowing is the cursor to disaster and chaos. If one moves to a higher order of chaos — one where movement is not known by our present means of motivation in a physical state, we can be caught off guard unless we look constantly for the HIDEN FLAW.
Fear and Love/Hope
I think we have two choices in our lives--to live out of love (or hope) or to live out of fear. Every thought or deed comes out of one of these two emotions. We were discussing this on another forum and we came up with Greed/Violence and Hope as two major forces. But I think it really goes back to love and fear.
Confidence is really a manifestation of ego and that can get you caught up in bad decisions. When you let go of the ego and the fear, you can just come from a place of hope (or love but so many people think that word is so overused). Upon re-reading that previous sentence, I see it sounds a bit hokey. I also have to admit that sometimes fear does appear to be a good thing. But maybe that fear we have of walking down a dark street in a bad part of town late at night is really common sense or intuition and not fear. I don't know.
I just know that fear can keep us from being our true selves and reaching our highest potential as humans. And that's definitely not good. It can keep us from making human connections. It can keep us from truly experiencing life. Fear is very limiting and if forced to choose, I'd choose to live from a place of hope rather than fear. What do you think?
MPajak
Fear is the path to the dark side
Heed the words of Master Yoda, young Padawans ;-)
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
Yes--
Do not underestimate the power of the dark side. :>)
MPajak
All things in moderation
Too much fear means too much emotion. As a person who has many a time demonstrated a large volume of various emotions I can understand how difficult ti can be to control emotions, including fear. But having too little emotion can also be just as bad.
Love, is the only emotion which can help us, but to love blindly is to leave oneself open to pain and torment.
But having emotions makes us human, and that is what we are, human. We are not unemotional machines.
Fear, like all emotions needs to be kept in control, but our present media/political attitude is one of very definite fear, and I am afraid that people will become so afraid that they find life difficult to even contemplate living. But perhaps I should have faith in people to be sensible. Unfortunately, I have also lost the ability to trust. Very few people gain my trust these days. My trust has been abused too often.
But then that lack of trust also raises fear, and that is something I must get control of.
Thanks for your responses. They are interesting and worth thinking on.
Carol A Noble
As I see it
Carol - caution is always necessary, but fear only breeds more fear. If one goes through life expecting to find potholes that's what will be found.
The media loves to play up fear - it's very newsworthy! They may also have been told to do so by folk further up the chain, as fearful people are so much easier to control (and restrict!).
Although displaying a reasonable amount of caution, I refuse to be afraid. The world is in a mess, and terrible things are happening, and will probably continue to happen. However, there is also much good and many people are quietly working away at this, whether it is in a big newsworthy way or a small local way.
To give in to fear is to hand over your personal power - and by power I do not mean the bad kind which exploits for personal gain but one's integrity, self-trust and self-belief.
I was dismayed by the negativity in many of the comments on your blog. There are many bright and shining things about many of the people in this world, ordinary people, not necessarily just those in the spotlight, although some of them are there too. Focussing on a more positive attitude would create a more positive environment. In this, fear can be overcome as it is harder for it to flourish when it's relegated to the bottom of the ladder and we refuse to be manipulatd by it.
Yes, we get knocked down in life, our trust is sometimes abused, an intended kindness thrown back in our face - but we should never give in or give up. The sun will rise tomorrow and we have a new day and a new start in which to try to improve things.
Love, Kathrinn
Thank you Kathrinn
Thank you very much Kathrinn for those words of wisdom.
You are right, I am very negative, and I admit that I find it hard to overcome the negativity. Positivity only works for me if positive things are already happening. I am a person who responds to situations rather than creating them. Therefore, with all the negative situations happening around me I tend to be negative in response.
One thing I lack is emotional stamina. It is usually all or nothing with me. I am trying to tone this down, and also slow my own lifestyle down as well, in the hope that I will notice the things that happen inbetween the fast living that are usually only a blur. I am starting to see more, and so I am becoming more aware. However, I am struggling to overcome the negativity and the fear that is around us at present.
I agree that many good things do go on which are unsung, and I am looking for them, but I also find that there are limits to what I can attune to in a positive way.
At this moment I am trying to arrange a possible move to another home. I believe we could manage to live on the income, until I at least retire, when I know we will be better off, however, this also relies on what is termed in the UK, the new form of housing benefit called Local Housing Allowance. This is only a recent situation, and is meant to replace the old housing benefit system in place. Yet, too many letting agents are not aware of the way this works, and rely solely on other income which may not be enough for them to allow a tenancy to take place. They are wrong to do so, but how do you overcome this? Catch 22 again!
You are right, I should be more positive in my attitude, and I am trying, honest! But that old negativity gives rise to fear that nothing will change no matter how hard I try, and that in turn makes me morbid. I can get short term respite, but only for a few hours at a time, and then more hours negative again. Not good, but at the moment all that I can muster. I will have to gain more emotional stamina. How do we do that? Is it only by thinking positive thoughts? I often wonder.
Sometimes, I can make things happen, but only if I have no definite emotional context, only a little bit of neutral emotional energy.
The negativity, and fear that surrounds us all today is too great to easily overcome. Perhaps if I was decades younger it would be possible, but so many young people are now using drugs recreationally to help them cope with negativity of life that I wonder if there is a sort of invisible ray being emitted all over my country and making us not only miserable but very afraid? Stupid thought maybe, but I know that when I sit down at night, the very air seems to depress the emotions. Not good. Not good at all.
Yet, your words do give me hope, Kathrinn, and perhaps some day I will come onto this site and show a true happiness, albeit for a short while.
Thank you for your insight.
Carol A Noble
Carol -
Please don't think I was directing criticism towards you - that was not my intention.
Many people have life really tough, and that wouldn't tend to make anyone feel very positive. I don't think I'm a particularly positive person, I just refuse to be a negative one, and I will not submit to fear.
I'm much older than you, and I'm pleased that I can remember times that were much happier and a great deal more free than those we live in now. Sometimes it feels as if it happened to another person in a different world! I don't like the world as it is today, but try to create my own world to a large extent where things are as I feel they should be. It's a pretty simple one which incorporates simple pleasures that cost precisely nothing, which is pretty much what I can afford anyway!
I think you are worrying too much. You can't change the world, only your attitude towards it, my friend. Ignore the things that are upsetting you and concentrate on the blessings you have.
Love, Kathrinn
Thanks Kathrinn
I don't mind criticism if it is constructive, and your words were very constructive. Thank you very much for that.
Something has to come up in the future which is positive. I know that when things are going well on a personal level I am so much happier, have more energy, find life wonderful. They say you create your own world, but as I said before I am a responder.
We know that house will not come to us. Too many obstacles and stalling by those of influence. But Bob and I talked last night and we realised that when I retire we can go anywhere, do anything, we like. We won't be tied to the same extent. The only thing that limits me is my need for medication from a GP via a Chemist. But that can be overcome I am sure.
Bring on the retirement. I am determined to enjoy it!
That should put a smile on anyone's face!
Carol A Noble