Letting Go of Fear
Whether it’s flying to your next destination, learning to drive, speaking in front of an audience, or
speaking up for yourself and confronting someone, we all have things we are afraid of. Fear is a normal
part of life. It is to be expected.
Phobias
A phobia is an irrational, persistent, and excessive fear of something--an object, living creature, place, activity or situation -- whereby the imagined threat is far worse than the actual danger it poses. The distress can cause panic attacks and inability to function. Phobias are diagnosable mental health issues and are treatable—most often through exposure therapy. The concept behind exposure therapy is that small incremental doses of exposure to the thing causing the phobia can add up to diminished fear.
Do the Thing
The same concept can be applied to everyday types of fears. If you’re afraid to fly, take baby steps toward getting on a plane for your next trip. This may include booking a flight, driving to the airport a few times, walking into the airport and browsing the flight schedules. It may include starting off small with a direct and short flight before moving on to a longer flight with layovers.
It may include practicing visualization exercises leading up to the flight whereby you imagine in as much detail as possible, using all five senses-- the sites, sounds, physical sensations, smells and tastes you might encounter on a flight.
Avoidance Doesn’t Fix It
Speaking of visualization … I like to visualize fears as snowballs. The more I avoid them, the bigger they get. In other words, if I fear public speaking, avoiding it only makes the fear grow bigger. The longer I put it off, the more intense the fear. If I want to lessen my fear (or shrink the snowball), I do more public speaking. The more I engage in it, the less I fear it.
Courage, My Darling
Courage, by definition, is pushing yourself to do something, despite your fear. That said, I wish you the courage to tackle your fears, head on, so they don’t keep you from living fully.
