We’ve all been afraid of something during our lifetimes. Fear is the enemy of clear thoughts and swift action. Fear of failure has led many to miss a great opportunity. I suppose there’s a phobia about fear, the fear of fear. Or there’s the current fear that gets my panties in a bunch. The Fear of the Walking Dead. My fear here is that millions of Americans sit around watching this mindless, unoriginal crap, so much so that it will become the norm for entertainment, driving out the worthy productions, and stifling news talents.
Those who say they haven’t been afraid of something in their lives are lying to themselves and proving that they are afraid of something, if only that someone will call them a coward.
We come out of the womb screaming in terror, “God it is cold out here, shove me back in where it’s warm and cozy,” or “What? We’re starting with the child abuse already? Don’t slap me again. That hurts.”
Our childhoods are spent in fear of everything until experience teaches us how to handle all the unknowns that frighten us, and we learn what behaviors will bring pain or pleasure. I recall the greatest fears as a child were the things new to my experience and the things that were beyond my control, like my parents’ wrath. As we learn to control our environment, and how to handle the unexpected, our world becomes less fearful. We begin to develop and flourish as adults, because until we learn to control our fears, we do not function to our full potential, our minds are too occupied with coping instead of striving for goals.
There are some basic, primal fears which we all learn to overcome as children. Most deal with our family and parental relationships. There is the fear of abandonment. The fear of not being loved. The biggest fears I recall as a child were pain, death and the dark (the unknown or unexplained).
The first major fear I recall overcoming was pain. My father was the abusive type, and one of the things I quickly learned about pain is that it is temporary, if you can endure pain, it goes away. Bruises heal. This was an important lesson while I strove toward my first goal in life, playing football. If you are afraid of pain you will be a timid, ineffective football player, but if you play aggressively, with no fear, you will quickly surpass your competition and succeed. I wanted to succeed.
Somewhere along the line the fear of the dark disappeared as irrational and childish, although I doubt the fear of the unknown ever disappears.
As our lives progress, and we defeat our fears, we learn to enjoy our lives. Then comes the final fear, the fear of death. Some give their minds up to religion. They don’t fear death, because they believe they will live on forever in the glory of God. I’m not an atheist, but I wasn’t raised with religion, either. I go with my wife’s more pragmatic view. She’s an Indiana farmer and a devout Catholic who believes, “everything dies. You can’t worry about it.” But I believe I learned my beliefs about death from the five dogs I’ve had which have died from either old age or disease. Dogs are smart. They don’t fight death. When it’s their time to die, they know it, and just lie down and give up the suffering. It’s one of the things I’ve always loved and respected about dogs. They don’t vainly hold on to something that isn’t there anymore. They live their lives to the fullest, so in the end they can give up with no regrets. I’ve watched my father die of cancer, I spent last night watching my mother struggle through wharf will be her final days. Death no longer scares me
So what does scare me still? Not doing everything I want with my life. Not living up to my full potential. I don’t want to look back at my life and say I missed a great opportunity to succeed because I was too afraid to take the chance and fail.
Those who say they haven’t been afraid of something in their lives are lying to themselves and proving that they are afraid of something, if only that someone will call them a coward.
We come out of the womb screaming in terror, “God it is cold out here, shove me back in where it’s warm and cozy,” or “What? We’re starting with the child abuse already? Don’t slap me again. That hurts.”
Our childhoods are spent in fear of everything until experience teaches us how to handle all the unknowns that frighten us, and we learn what behaviors will bring pain or pleasure. I recall the greatest fears as a child were the things new to my experience and the things that were beyond my control, like my parents’ wrath. As we learn to control our environment, and how to handle the unexpected, our world becomes less fearful. We begin to develop and flourish as adults, because until we learn to control our fears, we do not function to our full potential, our minds are too occupied with coping instead of striving for goals.
There are some basic, primal fears which we all learn to overcome as children. Most deal with our family and parental relationships. There is the fear of abandonment. The fear of not being loved. The biggest fears I recall as a child were pain, death and the dark (the unknown or unexplained).
The first major fear I recall overcoming was pain. My father was the abusive type, and one of the things I quickly learned about pain is that it is temporary, if you can endure pain, it goes away. Bruises heal. This was an important lesson while I strove toward my first goal in life, playing football. If you are afraid of pain you will be a timid, ineffective football player, but if you play aggressively, with no fear, you will quickly surpass your competition and succeed. I wanted to succeed.
Somewhere along the line the fear of the dark disappeared as irrational and childish, although I doubt the fear of the unknown ever disappears.
As our lives progress, and we defeat our fears, we learn to enjoy our lives. Then comes the final fear, the fear of death. Some give their minds up to religion. They don’t fear death, because they believe they will live on forever in the glory of God. I’m not an atheist, but I wasn’t raised with religion, either. I go with my wife’s more pragmatic view. She’s an Indiana farmer and a devout Catholic who believes, “everything dies. You can’t worry about it.” But I believe I learned my beliefs about death from the five dogs I’ve had which have died from either old age or disease. Dogs are smart. They don’t fight death. When it’s their time to die, they know it, and just lie down and give up the suffering. It’s one of the things I’ve always loved and respected about dogs. They don’t vainly hold on to something that isn’t there anymore. They live their lives to the fullest, so in the end they can give up with no regrets. I’ve watched my father die of cancer, I spent last night watching my mother struggle through wharf will be her final days. Death no longer scares me
So what does scare me still? Not doing everything I want with my life. Not living up to my full potential. I don’t want to look back at my life and say I missed a great opportunity to succeed because I was too afraid to take the chance and fail.