We are all guilty of being our own worst critic. We fight with ourselves, the little voices of fear and hope, whispering in our ears. And when we consider our options in a situation, we often build in our minds the worst case scenario rather than the best case, or even that which is most likely.
Fear is perhaps the hardest of all emotions to quantify. Sometimes it’s completely irrational, like monsters under the bed, but at the time it doesn’t make it feel any less real. Each of us has different fears, for example, one may have a fear of heights where another may be fine to perch atop a building but the thought of spiders sends chills down their spines.
Regardless of what our fears may be, we need to remember that fear has only as much power over us as we allow it to have. It’s the unknown fears that are shapeless and formless that we do not allow ourselves to think about. Acknowledging it, even naming it, can help it to be something we can visualize. As Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
But usually, we will find that the thing we are fearful of is not something to be so scared of. There may be consequences, but often they can be worked through, and it the fear of working through them that can paralyze us from doing something we truly know we can or sometimes should.
“Fear is the static that prevents me from hearing myself.” – Samuel Butler
Life is for living.
Jane
