Fear

Fear is one of the greatest obstacles that stands in the way of success and happiness in life. It is a feeling of uncertainty or dread that something painful or dangerous is about to happen. It is a fact that when a person feels fear, he or she undergoes a physical change. The heart beats faster, while the blood seems to pound through the body. The muscles in the body reacts, too. Fear might cause a person’s jaw to tighten. A person might even lose control of his or her facial muscles.
Mental illnesses can also result from fear. Psychologists have concluded that almost every case of mental or nervous disorder is caused by fear or dread of some unknown or unreal thing. In many cases, when these causes are discovered and treated by a doctor, the fear might be removed and the patient might be on the road to getting well. Fear is the reason for a number of emotional problems. There are those that believe that they are sick when, in fact, they are well. Such people are gripped with the fear of carrying on with certain activities, thinking that it would be harmful and dangerous to do so. Fear takes away their confidence and renders them completely out of tune with reality.

I was once in touch with a young man whom I considered to be a computer wizard, until one day, he began to complain that his knees were getting weaker. He stopped driving and would not even venture outside of his home, thinking that, by so doing, his knees would buckle and he would collapse while driving or walking on the street. Yet, he seemed perfectly normal at home where he could walk around freely without any problem.

Fear could be the cause of failure in business. There are those that fail their final exams in school or in college, all because of their mental fear which prevents them from adjusting to any situation that calls for self-confidence and composure.

There are those that are able to overcome their fear through willpower and self-help. They have walked through fear, but did not surrender to its adverse effect. In order to conquer fear, a person must be disposed to the advice of wellwishers. Somewhere, beyond the confines of fear and dread, there is a place where the grass is greener and productive.

In this day and age, it has become much more difficult to overpower fear. The sliding economy can cause people to exist with the fear that, perhaps, there might be more economic problems in store. There is also the fear that crime in general might increase, causing people to anticipate a break-in or a hold-up. Fear seems to rear its ugly head in all fields of life, but to be obsessed with fear is to become paranoid, and paranoia might mentally affect a person. The only way to conquer fear is by adjusting to circumstances beyond our control.
It is within the power and capacity of a person to overcome fear and not let it develop into a full-blown paranoia that might be too late to conquer.