Overcoming Fear – Conquering it and Reclaiming your Life

We’ve all felt fear at one time or another. It’s a natural human emotion that presents itself in a variety of ways. While that is true, many people must cope with a crippling fear that keeps them from enjoying their life at its fullest. It’s important to understand that our fears are learned. We aren’t simply born afraid of guns, for example. We must learn that they are dangerous by associating them with their outcome. Guns can cause harm or death. With that understood, we know that we should be afraid of being shot. This applies to everything in life, from fear of emotional pain caused by a relationship to fear of the dark.

Overcoming fear can be achieved in a number of ways. As mentioned, fear is essentially built upon association. If you are afraid of dating because you fear it will always lead in rejection, it’s likely because you’ve been rejected before. But what if another date didn’t end in rejection? And then another? You’ll gradually disassociate rejection with dating and instead associate acceptance with it. The old saying ‘face your fears’ really does hold true in most instances. By facing the fear of dating you’ll quickly realize that there are other outcomes aside from rejection and overcome your fear of it.

If you are having a hard time mustering up the courage to face your fears, try making a list. Write down all of the possible outcomes of any given scenario. Your date, for example, can end in any number of different ways. Only one of those is outright rejection. Taking a new job is another example. The chance of failure is small compared to all of the other outcomes that a new job could lead to. Try to look at your fear logically instead of simply emotionally. It can help you understand the rationality of your fear and help you to overcome fear more effectively.

Many people avoid the situations that they fear at all costs. This process only helps to strengthen the association that is causing their fears. The fears continue to grow until they are a massive mountain holding you back. You must break the chain of association not by hiding from your fears, but by exposing yourself to them. Overcoming fear will never be achieved by avoiding whatever it is that you are afraid of. You must face your fear. Confront it. Conquer it. Once you do this, you’ll likely realize that there was truly nothing to be afraid of in the first place.