Embracing Fears Responsibly
From the moment we were born, our survival instincts were already up and running. We instinctively knew how to suckle from the breast, how to cry when hungry or when in discomfort, and we often also cry when in the presence of strange people. One survival instinct that has helped us survive is fear.
In the corporate world, everyone talks about overcoming fear and being brave, and in some way or another, they are actually right. Most of our fears hold us back from achieving our true potential. Fear paralyzes us into inaction. And though it is fear that protects us, we cannot live constantly inside our comfort zones. There are times when we push through what we feel to get what we need.
On the other hand, having no fear at all in any given circumstance is just recklessness. Fear keeps us on our toes. It helps us evaluate and weigh in the consequences of failure and unpreparedness. Fear protects us. It makes us alert to danger and prepares us to face it. The feeling of fear or being afraid is very natural to everyone, and something everyone should responsibly embrace.
Our level of fear and unique phobias vary greatly as a result of our past experiences. Some are mild and give us goosebumps, and others, well, scares us to the point of trauma. Other people however, though they have no prior experience with their objects of fear, are afraid because they don’t exactly know anything about them, and this is fear of the unknown. But whatever our fears are, it is important to know that we can overcome all of them – and overcoming is not erasing our fear, but having enough courage to act in spite of it.
Rachelle Browne
Editor-in-Chief
