#wereafraid

It is usual to shy away from the issues we don’t want to deal with, but what about the parts of us we’re afraid to look at?

What is it we’re running away from and what is it we don’t like about ourselves? We need to ask ourselves why we’re afraid and what are we fearful about? The fear of fear causes us more problems than fear itself. Fear is an anxious feeling, a biological reaction. The same reaction we may get going into an interview or going into the headmaster’s office.

But fear is information. It offers us knowledge about ourselves, an understanding if we choose to accept it. We need to think about fear in the wider context of our lives and not in a particular circumstance. We must be comfortable with ourselves.

We run from fear, when it is induced by a threat or danger, and that causes physiological and behavioural changes in us. But it is important we look at the parts of us we’re afraid to look at. People live with fear continually, others only when they have something, they have to deal with that takes them out of their comfort zone.

Fear is regulated by the process of cognition and learning. We see fear as either rational and appropriate or irrational and inappropriate. The more we are able to move away from fear, the more rational we will see what we fear. Irrational fear is a phobia. It is something that stays irrational until we make it rational.

Fear is the biggest part of us we are afraid to look at. Fears that are irrational have a marked effect on our mental, emotional and physical state. The less fear we have, the more we will begin to feel comfortable in ourselves.