Nothing to Fear?

“The only thing we have to fear is…fear itself.” --Franklin D. Roosevelt

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a history buff, but that quote strikes me, this week in particular. I have been thinking lately about fear and how it takes a choke-hold on our lives from the time we are little kids.

Take my 10-year-old stepson for example. This weekend was a stormy one, and he has a terrible fear of thunder. Even though he is old enough to rationalize with his fears, he’s still scared. We can tell him it’s just noise and it’s not going to hurt you, but for whatever reason, it still scares him. We may think it’s irrational, but to him it makes perfect sense. I think a lot of our fears stem from childhood. Like my paralyzing fear of bees (insert your mocking laugh here). When I was about 8, my mom and I got caught in our strawberry patch while a swarm of bees decided to nest in one of our trees. We had to run under a blanket to get inside and call an exterminator. Hence, I am still to this day, scared of bees and run like my pants are on fire when I see one. Some childhood fears seem to continue on as adults. The fear of pain is a perfect example. I will be getting a medical test done next Tuesday that will likely be painful. And just like a 5-year-old child, I don’t want to go because I’m afraid of the pain. It’s amazing how some fears never change, regardless of our age.

But as we get older, we can manage to talk ourselves out of most of the fears we had as children. Perhaps it was a fear of the dark, or monsters in the closet, or even the neighborhood bully. Those are simple things we can now look back on and say “that was silly.” But it wasn’t silly at the time…it was very real. And even though we are able to conquer most fears we struggled with as kids, there are new ones that emerge as adults. Perhaps the fear of losing a loved one, losing your job, the fear of abandonment, the fear of rejection…. the list could go on and on. It is amazing what a grip fear can have on your life if you let it. Especially those of us that watch the news or read the paper – we are bombarded with reasons to be afraid every single day! I am amazed that any of us get up and leave the house each day!

My point is that I think it is ok to be afraid, but not to let those fears prevent us from living the lives we want. We all still have fear (some more than others). Just like the little kids we once were, each person’s fear is very real to them, even though it may seem irrational to others. We cannot wake up each day being afraid to help out a stranger or take a chance doing something daring. Those are the moments in life that make it the most rewarding! Conquering your fear is the most exhilarating experience there is. So don’t dwell on what you are afraid of, and don’t be ashamed of it. Face it dead in the eye and get past it. After all, it’s really only the fear itself that we’re afraid of!