The Keys to fear- already graded
From fearing the dark as a child to stressing over classes as a college student, I have always felt fear. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however. Fear is a basic survival instinct that can push a person past their normal limitations in the presence of danger. This helps people adapt and survive in difficult situations. It is only when fear does more harm than good that it becomes a problem. In these situations, fear is maladaptive and people must be able to manage it in order to handle the situation effectively. This is what gets me wandering about how I am dealing with my own fears. What if I could do more than just face them or cope with them? What if I could overcome my worries simply by changing the way I think about life in general? Many people believe that it is impossible to not feel fear and that the only solution is to cope with it. I, however, believe that whether it is too much anxiety or a debilitating phobia, there must be a solution. How can an average person mentally overcome any fear or anxiety in their daily life through mental training?
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” As President Roosevelt stated in his inaugural address. This is because the inability to cope properly with fear is the source of so many of the world’s problems. In other words, how a person handles fear affects them more than the actual fear does. EzineArticles.com states, “Fear is felt when certain factors give us a feeling of being threatened or being afraid of something that might possibly happen.” My worrying about getting good grades is an example of this. Fear, as defined by dictionary.com, is a “distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.” Anxiety, stress, frustration, and phobias are all parts of fear. This shows that fear is not the detection of danger but the response to danger. In this sense, fear is not only an instinct but also an emotion that one can learn to be aware of and control. Thusly, a person can decide how afraid they will be regardless of the situation. Fear and anxiety are like anger in that they are emotions that easily grow out of control unless a person learns to steady them.
Failure to resolve our fears means we would have to live with the unnecessary side effects. Fear comes with many physical and psychological symptoms. Physical symptoms typically include increased heart rate and progress into trembling and feeling faint. Psychological symptoms can include intense panic, feeling a need to escape, or knowing that you are over reacting, but feeling powerless to stop it. These sensations are signs the body is using the fight or flight response in which a person who is confronted with imminent danger must choose between running away or fighting to the end. The Fight or Flight response forces the body to go past it’s usual limitations by activating the sympathetic nervous system. This response can be useful to a person who is being assaulted in a dark alley, because failure to run or fight would likely lead to death. However, this response is not useful to a person about to give a speech to a small crowd as it only floods the person with excess energy only to be suppressed. Another downfall to this defense mechanism is that it puts a huge toll on the body; wearing it down by pushing it past it’s limits. It is easy to see how fear can cause a lot of stress on the mind and body and make a person unhealthy, if it occurs too frequently. But if it were possible to control the extent of these episodes, we could gain their benefits when needed and stop ourselves before they hurt us.
Buddhist philosophies are all based on how one can overcome fear through the way they look at life. I learned from their teachings that “…there is unhealthy fear and healthy fear.” An unhealthy fear is any fear based on something that cannot actually hurt us. Fear of public speaking is an example of an unhealthy fear because it is based on the idea that being judged poorly by others actually hurts us. Since we have control over how we feel and what we think, the thoughts of others are not harmful. Fear of getting into a car accident is an example of a healthy fear as it can actually hurt us and there are preventative measures we can take to help avoid it. Fear is basically entirely in our heads. They believe that fear comes from what are called delusions or “distorted ways of looking at ourselves and the world around us.” If we let go of all delusions we eliminate all fear.
Based on all this research, I have found the key to overcoming any fear or anxiety a person may encounter. The first thing that one must do is learning to determine if the danger can actually hurt them. If they realize the threat is not harmful, then they will cease having the fear. Next, they must teach themselves to not fear or worry about something they have no control over, because they do not help themselves in doing so. If they determine the threat is harmful, then they must determine then and there what they have control over in that situation. In doing so, they can further eliminate other fears by simply accepting there is nothing they can do in those situations thusly eliminating their desire to respond. Lastly, they must take time to truly consider what they need in life. If they learn to not get attached to things they do not need, the fear of loosing those attachments will disappear. The final result being, a person who can effectively overcome any fear they choose to.
It may take some time and practice for someone to develop this skill, but once they do they can overcome any fear they choose to. People can learn to live without fear by simply teaching themselves to not fear what cannot hurt them, is not under their control, or involves loosing something that they do not need.
Works Cited
Cherry, Kendra. "What Is the Fight-or-Flight Response?" About.com. IAC/InterActiveCorp, n.d. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <http://psychology.about.com/od/findex/g/fight-or-flight-response.htm>.
"Dealing With Fear." dealingwithfear.org. New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <http://www.dealingwithfear.org/index.htm/>.
Emerald, Sofi. "What Causes Fear." EzineArticles.com. SparkNET, 16 Sep 2008. Web. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. <http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Causes-Fear&id=1501761>.
"Fear." Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing, n.d. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fear?s=t>.
Roosevelt, Franklin. Inaugural Address . United States of America. Capitol's West Front, Washington, D.C. 04 Mar 1933. Address.
Segal, Jeanne, et al. "Phobias and Fears ." HelpGuide.org. HelpGuide.org, Feb 2013. Web. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. <http://helpguide.org/mental/phobia_symptoms_types_treatment.htm>.
Final: 50
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” As President Roosevelt stated in his inaugural address. This is because the inability to cope properly with fear is the source of so many of the world’s problems. In other words, how a person handles fear affects them more than the actual fear does. EzineArticles.com states, “Fear is felt when certain factors give us a feeling of being threatened or being afraid of something that might possibly happen.” My worrying about getting good grades is an example of this. Fear, as defined by dictionary.com, is a “distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.” Anxiety, stress, frustration, and phobias are all parts of fear. This shows that fear is not the detection of danger but the response to danger. In this sense, fear is not only an instinct but also an emotion that one can learn to be aware of and control. Thusly, a person can decide how afraid they will be regardless of the situation. Fear and anxiety are like anger in that they are emotions that easily grow out of control unless a person learns to steady them.
Failure to resolve our fears means we would have to live with the unnecessary side effects. Fear comes with many physical and psychological symptoms. Physical symptoms typically include increased heart rate and progress into trembling and feeling faint. Psychological symptoms can include intense panic, feeling a need to escape, or knowing that you are over reacting, but feeling powerless to stop it. These sensations are signs the body is using the fight or flight response in which a person who is confronted with imminent danger must choose between running away or fighting to the end. The Fight or Flight response forces the body to go past it’s usual limitations by activating the sympathetic nervous system. This response can be useful to a person who is being assaulted in a dark alley, because failure to run or fight would likely lead to death. However, this response is not useful to a person about to give a speech to a small crowd as it only floods the person with excess energy only to be suppressed. Another downfall to this defense mechanism is that it puts a huge toll on the body; wearing it down by pushing it past it’s limits. It is easy to see how fear can cause a lot of stress on the mind and body and make a person unhealthy, if it occurs too frequently. But if it were possible to control the extent of these episodes, we could gain their benefits when needed and stop ourselves before they hurt us.
Buddhist philosophies are all based on how one can overcome fear through the way they look at life. I learned from their teachings that “…there is unhealthy fear and healthy fear.” An unhealthy fear is any fear based on something that cannot actually hurt us. Fear of public speaking is an example of an unhealthy fear because it is based on the idea that being judged poorly by others actually hurts us. Since we have control over how we feel and what we think, the thoughts of others are not harmful. Fear of getting into a car accident is an example of a healthy fear as it can actually hurt us and there are preventative measures we can take to help avoid it. Fear is basically entirely in our heads. They believe that fear comes from what are called delusions or “distorted ways of looking at ourselves and the world around us.” If we let go of all delusions we eliminate all fear.
Based on all this research, I have found the key to overcoming any fear or anxiety a person may encounter. The first thing that one must do is learning to determine if the danger can actually hurt them. If they realize the threat is not harmful, then they will cease having the fear. Next, they must teach themselves to not fear or worry about something they have no control over, because they do not help themselves in doing so. If they determine the threat is harmful, then they must determine then and there what they have control over in that situation. In doing so, they can further eliminate other fears by simply accepting there is nothing they can do in those situations thusly eliminating their desire to respond. Lastly, they must take time to truly consider what they need in life. If they learn to not get attached to things they do not need, the fear of loosing those attachments will disappear. The final result being, a person who can effectively overcome any fear they choose to.
It may take some time and practice for someone to develop this skill, but once they do they can overcome any fear they choose to. People can learn to live without fear by simply teaching themselves to not fear what cannot hurt them, is not under their control, or involves loosing something that they do not need.
Works Cited
Cherry, Kendra. "What Is the Fight-or-Flight Response?" About.com. IAC/InterActiveCorp, n.d. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <http://psychology.about.com/od/findex/g/fight-or-flight-response.htm>.
"Dealing With Fear." dealingwithfear.org. New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <http://www.dealingwithfear.org/index.htm/>.
Emerald, Sofi. "What Causes Fear." EzineArticles.com. SparkNET, 16 Sep 2008. Web. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. <http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Causes-Fear&id=1501761>.
"Fear." Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing, n.d. Web. 16 Apr 2013. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fear?s=t>.
Roosevelt, Franklin. Inaugural Address . United States of America. Capitol's West Front, Washington, D.C. 04 Mar 1933. Address.
Segal, Jeanne, et al. "Phobias and Fears ." HelpGuide.org. HelpGuide.org, Feb 2013. Web. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. <http://helpguide.org/mental/phobia_symptoms_types_treatment.htm>.
Final: 50