I was fearless growing up; I wasn't afraid of the dark, heights, needles, or even snakes.
Later in life, every unpleasant experience or uncomfortable encounter turned into fear. By the time I turned 20, I had tons of irrational fears. And those weren't just reptiles or insects.
I was afraid of being rejected, not being good enough, saying 'no,' I feared failure and abandonment. Being an introvert on top of that makes me a great case study.
How could I live my life with all these fears holding me back? It was a mental prison I put myself in. So, I did what I do best - I researched and found a few interesting articles on the topic.
Photo by Benjamin Davies.
First of all, fear is old, powerful, and primitive human emotion. It helped to keep our ancestors alerted in the presence of danger and, as a result, to survive.
It's basically our survival instinct, and it kicks in every time there is the slightest sign of danger.
If fear is an emotion, I can keep it under control as I am a master of my emotions. Am I right or what?
Secondly, behind every fear, there is a story or an incident, an experience that either happened to you personally, someone else, or maybe even a fictional character (it's crucial to understand that when it comes to memories brain doesn't necessarily distinguish what is real and what is not, you can even rewrite your own memories, but that's a story for another article)
Lastly, fear might be your comfort zone, safety net, and your security blanket at the same time. It's your reasonable explanation of why you shouldn't even bother.
When you don't try things because of the fear, you ensure that you can't fail, lose or fall.
So, the question is, why try?
Fears are the limits. It's if you only take half-breath at a time or live a half-life, not up to your potential.
The only way to overcome fear is to face it. If you had a bad experience in the past, the only way to fix it is to try again and rewrite the regretful experience with the better ones.
Keep trying new things and consciously expect a positive outcome, "believe you can, and you are halfway there."
We only have one life and whatever happened before, whatever holds you back, just know that you still can trick your brain and rewrite the story with a better, happy ending this time.
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