Fear is an integral part of life, it teaches us what to do and what not to do. But sometimes, it overcompensates and can become crippling. I think everyone has at least experienced this on one occasion or another. For example, that huge presentation that accounted for a large portion of your grade, you may have had all the preparation in the world, but the fear that you wouldn't do well fills you with overwhelming anxiety, which led to a subpar presentation, ultimately leading to a less than satisfactory grade. When you hold something so importantly, even the littlest of doubts can cripple you with overwhelming anxiety.
In my opinion, humans only really fear one thing, and that is loss. Every phobia in the book is really base on the loss of something. Acrophobia, the fear of heights, what makes it scary is the potential to lose your life, same with arachnophobia. Even agoraphobia, the fear of crowded places, and claustrophobia, the fear of tiny spaces, its not the physical phenomena that is scary, but the fear of losing oneself in the midst of it all.
For me, i have come to realise that the older i get, the more afraid i am. When you're young and ignorant, nothing really phases you because you have yet to learn the value of the important things in life, so it doesn't really mean much when you experience a loss. But as you grow older, the things you hold dear to you increases as well as the things you place importance in and thus have more to lose. Once you experience the grief that comes with the loss of something important, that's when fear kicks into overdrive and overcompensates in preparation for the next time and that's when fear becomes crippling.
So, you may ask, how do i stop being afraid? Well the answer is quite simple really, just don't hold anything dear. If you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to fear, right? Adopt a nihilist mindset and everything will be fine. Haha. Jokes aside, i don't think that there is any solution to this, honestly. The most we can do is try not to let that anxiety swallow us whole, but that's also easier said than done. Well, knowing is half the battle right?
So, you may ask, how do i stop being afraid? Well the answer is quite simple really, just don't hold anything dear. If you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to fear, right? Adopt a nihilist mindset and everything will be fine. Haha. Jokes aside, i don't think that there is any solution to this, honestly. The most we can do is try not to let that anxiety swallow us whole, but that's also easier said than done. Well, knowing is half the battle right?
