Nothing to Fear?

I was playing cards and talking with one of my friends the other day; and somehow, we got on the topic of fear. I honestly have no idea what we were really talking about, but one of us commented about how fear paralyzes people, and I thought, 'Huh... I should try to write something about that." Here's the attempt.

So, fear, right? What's the big deal? We're all afraid of something, right? Fear itself isn't an issue; who cares about fear. It's how you respond to fear that matters. A lot of people can be easily paralyzed by fear. Think about this incredibly stereotypical situation. You're hanging out with one of your friends that happens to be female, when all of a sudden, she starts freaking out. You can't figure out what's going on, until you see the spider crawling on the table. You take your flip-flop and crush the menace. All's well.

In my opinion, that's ridiculous. No one should be afraid of something that poses such a small threat. But in the same way, you can't kill a bear with a flip-flop (except under very specific, very unlikely circumstances). People have irrational fears that can drastically affect their behavior.

The key here is to not be overcome by our fears, right? Absolutely. We can't let our fears own us. As Mark Twain, well-known and controversial author, said, "Courage is resistance to fear--not absence of fear." I'd say that this is a good thing to keep in mind. Oftentimes, we start thinking that we shouldn't be afraid of things, that we need to be fearless. I'm going to disagree with that though. We have every reason to be afraid sometimes. Imagine you're walking down the street, and suddenly, there's an angry bear blocking your path. Why's it angry? Because you tore down its forest for a street. If you wouldn't be afraid of that, well, you're probably either really stupid or over-confident. I mean, seriously, THERE'S A 500+ POUND BALL OF MUSCLE, TEETH, AND CLAWS BLOCKING YOUR PATH!! You have every right to be afraid of it. But you can resist fear and have courage by not flipping out and doing something constructive in that situation, like running away.

On a similar line of thought, Frederick Smith, founder of FedEx, said, "Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something." Absolutely. Fairly easy to get, right? Well, let's not get too carried away by it. There are some times when logic might be a better option. Example: you have a small bike, a big ramp, and some kerosene. Are you going to light yourself on fire and ride the bike off the ramp into a pile of mattresses? I sure hope not (unfortunately, there was actually a guy that did this; it didn't end well). There's a difference between resisting fear and being stupid. Don't cross it.

Another thing that I hoped to tie in somehow was a little something about how people are afraid to commit to something that could blow up. A perfect example would be a relationship. People are sometimes afraid of starting something for a few reasons that I will put in list order and perhaps type some opinion on the matter as well.
1. People don't want to get rejected
2. People don't want to hurt a friendship
3. People don't want to hurt someone after a failed relationship
4. People don't want to get hurt after a failed relationship

That's the long and the short of that, I guess. All four of those are fears that people have that need to be overcome.

I'm really not quite positive what else I have to say about it, but it's also getting late and my sleep-deprived mind tells me to get some sleep. I appreciate you who read my thoughts and musings(?). I sincerely do hope to get a little more consistent with this again. I apologize. Also, another reminder that I really do appreciate feedback, and I do take it to heart. So whether you have a suggestion for the blog or my work in progress (life), I'm happy to hear it along with questions, comments, criticism, etc.

Final statement:
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." Matthew 10:28