Fear

 

Fear can be a great motivator… or it can be a stumbling block. Fear also is the way your body may be telling you something is not right.

Past experiences may have made you wary. If you ate a specific food and wound up extremely ill from it, maybe what some call “fear” is really your own self-defense and something that you should be listening to. On the other hand, your fear may have no rational explanation that you can think of, maybe it’s just something new to you.

There are those who will insist that you face your fear head on. Being challenged by others is not the reason to forge ahead, use your own sense of reasoning. What does this action mean for me? How will I benefit if I do it? And most of all, WHY am I so frightened? And it might be interesting to note, are the folks pushing you to do “something” willing to do it themselves? If not, why not?

There are indeed many adventurers that may be open to you, and you may find you enjoy the experience. Someone I know has a great fear of heights and yet found he enjoys the freedom of skydiving (Yikes!). Perhaps that long-desired trip requires a plane ride and that may scare you, yet the percentage of successful and safe flights may calm your nerves.

I’ve recently been reading a lot of comments on social media about folks who are scared of taking the Covid-19 vaccine, but when asked why they shrug or latch on to a conspiracy theory. There are some who, for valid medical reasons, should not take that vaccine; but that is something for your doctor to evaluate.

I am hoping to take the vaccine when my state opens it up for my age group, however I have an allergy to shellfish, and they have warned people that shellfish allergies may cause a problem. So yes, I am worried, but it is not fear. I plan to discuss this with my doctor, someone with medical knowledge to guide me. No, I don’t feel it is necessary for someone to make my decisions, I do however want the opinion of a scientific mind.

Fears can sometimes be valid concerns, but you really have an obligation to yourself to discover why you have that apprehension. They say, “avoiding our fears only prevents us from moving forward”, but my feeling is that jumping in without knowing why your mind is telling you to be careful is foolhardy.

And if you can find no real excuse, then just enjoy life!

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