We are afraid of the wrong things

Fear is a word often used by philosophers. They refer to fear as an oppressor, something which holds us back from achieving excellence in many area’s of our lives.

We all have things which we know we are afraid of and can jot them down on a list, my list would probably have things like failure, rejection and inferiority on it as well as crime, rape, death of loved ones, HIV aids, etc.

The thing about fear is that it is unique to each and every person and functions differently within us. Recognizing this is essential to us, but in doing so where should we look, the past, the present or perhaps the future?

At which point in our lives did we become afraid of certain things, to the point where they hold us back?

Our experiences make us who we are yet we fear things which we have not yet experienced. Fear like everything else has a purpose, without it we would not be human however the tricky part comes in when we try and define the lengths to which it dictates our actions and thoughts. It may be negative when it manifests itself in ways which prohibit us from achieving certain things, but positive in ways which it protects us from harm.

We are bound by society, money and the rational behavior; I believe these things make us afraid to be different, to think irrationally, and to dream big. The norm makes us afraid to be abnormal. The media makes it hard to look and dress differently, our parents make it hard for us to find ourselves, and money makes it hard for us to do what we love. All these things stir up fears of rejection, failure and disappointment.

We are afraid of the wrong things, is the topic of this piece. I find it hard to draw any conclusion on this as I am not quiet convinced there is truth in the statement. We need to be aware of what our fears are and the extent to which they control our actions, we need to try and understand why and how they do this.

Whether our fears can be justified as right or wrong I don’t know. I guess it depends on the measure of choice (both conscious and subconscious) which controls the things which we are afraid of, and the way we choose to live our lives.