The Peace and Happiness Adventure

Fear of not being able to do something, fear that leads to inaction,

Fear is our response to uncertainty or something that is unfamiliar or a perceived threat. A physical or emotional response to what we perceive is about to happen.

Not all fear is bad. It’s a safety mechanism. It’s there to protect you and ensure our survival. It also gives us motivation, to study for an exam or get to work on time.

When the fight, flight, freeze and fawn response is activated, blood rushes to the brain and adrenaline gets pumping. (It also means digestion slows down to direct energy and why chronic stress can cause weight gain). It’s the opposite of the Rest and Digest phase.

Most fears are NOT REAL. We have constructed them in our imagination. Usually linked to past experiences that were rated as bad or uncomfortable or a threat to our survival due to fear of social isolation. We have told ourselves a story.

How is Fear Created?

For example Doing a speech on stage is related to a fear of public speaking. But what we really have is a fear of social response, of judgement. We’re more worried about what people will think than the actual task. The fear of social exclusion, which originally would have been a threat to survival itself.

Our minds can create a visceral feeling of fear. The emotion of fear arises because we came up with a story that tells us we should be scared of that situation. We project a feeling of fear through our perception of a situation and storytelling about what can go wrong.

We can’t remove all fear from our life. Fear sometimes is helpful and can help us feel more cautious.

How to Navigate Fearful States

How do fear responses show up?

It’s important to know that Fear and Excitement show up in the same way in our brain and our body. Science shows that neurologically they show up in the same way with the same physical sensations in the body.

The stories we tell ourselves decide whether it’s fear or excitement! Are you telling yourself a story of fear and failure? Instead tell yourself a story of how pumped and excited you are!

How we respond changes the way your mind approaches the situation. Often we are miscategorising and can translate that story of fear into excitement.