Managing your fear

Those who have read my work for some time now will know that I believe in consciously developing a personal philosophy. One of the cornerstones of my philosophy, which I have been developing and evolving for almost twenty years, deals with the nature of fear. For many years I have contemplated on our relationship to fear and the effect it has on people. It is perhaps the greatest obstacle that we face in life and often when challenged by it, it brings out the worst in us.

Fear, as I define it, takes many forms. I consider such emotions and behaviours such as greed, jealousy, anger, resentment, and hate to be rooted in fear but I am not writing today to define fear. Instead, I want to focus on the human response to it. I have written before about my time a few years ago in the African bush observing wild animals. My guide explained that a herd of antelope will exhibit fear when confronted with danger, however within ten minutes of the danger passing, even if one of the herd has been killed, they will calmly go back to grazing as if nothing had happened. This is in sharp contrast to the way humans process fear.

Our minds magnify and prolong our fear. We use our imaginations to construct worst-case scenarios and are kept up at night by worries of potential outcomes in the future. Fear often leads us to disengage our logical and intuitive faculties causing many to react irrationally. This stress response also causes us to activate our fight or flight response which leads people to experience tunnel vision and very short term thinking. The behaviours we then see people in a fear state exhibit can be selfish, destructive and irrational. These are not ideal for problem-solving nor are they helpful in the interdependent societies that we have developed.

Fear itself is not the problem but rather our response to it, causing problems for ourselves and the people around us. For this reason, I encourage everyone to learn how to manage their fear. If your fear has escalated to panic this starts by taking some deep breaths to get yourself back to a calm grounded state. Focus on the present moment instead of your out of control spiral of thoughts. Then ask the question that I have heard Eckhart Toll ask: is there anything to fear in this moment? If you are not in any immediate danger the answer is no. For anyone reading this blog, it is highly unlikely that there is any threat to your life in this present moment. Once you take yourself out of the fear state you will be better able to see things clearly, look at your options and make logical or intuitive decisions.

Homo Sapiens have survived and thrived because of our ability to cooperate. Fear undermines this sense of cooperation as well as diminishing our compassion, empathy and common sense. If you are fighting with someone over a pack of toilet paper in the supermarket you are in a fear state. A state of panic will create a crisis. As everyone is trying to make sense of the situation we are confronted with as government institutions work to stop the spread of the Coronavirus, besides taking steps to keep themselves and loved ones safe, I encourage people to work on managing their fear. You will see the world more clearly when you do.