'Fear' - Is it to be feared....?

'Fear' in simple words - emotional reaction to something that seems dangerous. The key word here is 'seems'. It really may not be dangerous. That 'something' may appear or seem to be dangerous but in reality, it may not be so. It is for the person facing the situation to decipher and understand correctly. Then the 'fear factor' could be easily avoided. Fearing something does not solve the problem. Facing it head on and win over it is the only solution.

A small story here. There was a rat, which was always bothered by a cat (like "Tom & Jerry"). The rat fearing the cat, approached a sage who had magical powers and told him about it's problems. The sage converted the rat into a cat, using his magical power. The rat changed now into a cat was freely roaming around the ’original’ cat. Then this original rat (now a cat) met a dog, which started bothering him. Again, the 'rat' (in cat's form) approached the sage and asked him to convert it into a dog. The sage obliged the rat's request. Not fearing the dog, the rat (in dog's form now) marched freely in the street. A young boy, just to have fun, started throwing stones at the dog (originally a 'rat'). Once again the 'rat' appeared before the sage and asked the sage to make him as a boy. The sage now explained how things work in this world. He said that even if he converts the rat to a boy, he will have to fear his parents and teachers. So there is no end to this. He then said that he has to shed his 'fear' of facing the reality and only then he can live peacefully. His 'mind-set' has to change. The rat (Jerry) realized it and remained as a rat and faced the cat (Tom) without fear.....

People fear so many things. Some people fear 'heights' (acrophobia). Some people even fear 'water' (hydrophobia). There are fears related to blood, injury, injections (hemophobia). Some people are afraid of travelling in flights (aerophobia) and some are afraid of different situations like 'loud noises' (phonophobia) etc. The best way to overcome 'fear' is to face what we fear 'head-on'. Initially, there could be adverse feelings and reactions. Gradually, we can come over that particular fear and in future we will not have such fear. Looking back, we might wonder as to why we were afraid of that particular situation!!

Some people have high level of imagination, like, 'what if I get killed, when I cross the busy road?', 'what if the ceiling fan above my head breaks and falls on my head?' Just because such events have happened in an odd person's life, it does not mean that it would happen to everyone. If that is true, no one can live in the world. Freak incidents and accidents will keep happening once in a while. Taking precaution before embarking on a mission is different from having fear to do that.

The most common form of fear is the 'fear of failure'. Such people will not attempt to do anything, for they would be taken over by the fear of failure. They will start asking themselves, 'what if I fail in my endeavor?' They will imagine all sorts of ways in which they might fail. All imaginary. One has to take calculated risks in life to succeed. No one can wait for the waves to subside, to plunge into the sea. We should know the way to maneuver the waves and swim with the tide. 

Most of us fear the imminent occurrence of 'death'. Whether one likes it or not, we all are bound to die, one day or the other. Having known that, why should we be afraid of death? 'Death' is part and parcel of the 'life' itself. Even a sentence will be beautiful and meaningful, only when it has a 'full stop'. We should live life to the full, without fearing 'death'. Let it come when it is destined to come....