FEAR

“Fear is an unpleasant feeling triggered by the perception of danger, real or imagined”

It is the most common phenomenon found in both human beings and animals. It exists in various forms and kinds most of which you probably might not even be aware of.

So what exactly is fear? How do you figure out what you are actually experiencing is fear or something else? How can you overcome it?

To answer all of the above, we need to understand in the first place the actual meaning, occurrence and forms of fear. Fear, in its literal sense means an emotion (either real or imagined) that alerts our mind to a certain threat or danger. When we experience something new, our brain has a tendency to release certain hormones, the most common one which we all are aware of is adrenaline which generates extreme emotions, fear being one of them. We often find ourselves in situations when our hands become cold, we feel extremely uneasy, nauseous and have increased heart rate, all these are nothing but outcomes of an adrenaline rush.

It is important to understand a few terms similar to fear and have an insight about the differences. People often confuse fear with phobia. A significant difference between the two lies in the severity. While fear tends to be more general and easily manageable, phobia on the other hand is excessive and irrational reaction to something specific. Phobia is actually the “fear of fear”. If we consider an example of a person who has a fear of heights, he would feel anxious when he has to board a plane but in case of phobia, he would actually go out of his way (or make excuses) to avoid flying.

Now, let’s apprehend the difference between fear and fright. Fright, in simplest terms means a sudden feeling of danger or terror and is usually short lived while fear may be ongoing but certainly is a perceived threat.

Fear is also an age-neutral phenomenon. If you are old and mature enough, it doesn’t mean you become fearless, though the extent and intensity might differ. Toddlers and kids might develop a fear of separation from their parents, a child taking admission in a new school might be afraid of new teachers, a teenager is most likely to fear competition in her class and what others are thinking about her. People understanding the real world are often afraid of survival. It is true that knowledge about existence comes as you age, but it doesn’t mean you stop acknowledging what you actually feel. We all have seen people feeling shy to express their distress because they believe that others will laugh at it and make fun of their fears.

There is nobody I have ever met who is born fearless. Fear resides in you and me, our friends and family and also in people we are strangers to. It also exists among animals who can’t talk but have the ability to express themselves , take an example of Diwali season where you won’t find your street dogs , birds and all other animals because they hide in fear of getting killed. Every person that we come across has his own way of overcoming his fear.

I believe that fear drives us on a path to become stronger and enables us to surpass every obstacle that lies on our way. “Deep Water”, chapter from our 12^th class textbook taught us that there is no better way to overcome our fear other than facing it and that we can conquer it by having control over it rather than letting it control us.

 

 

 “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist