How to Dim Fear

Fears loom large in this world.  Down through history we have had fears of enormous size and we dared never to go near some of these.  Yet we explored, we built bigger and better, and we faced some of these fears. 

And they dimmed.

Want to know how to dim fear?

Fear dims when you learn things.

Lois Lowry – Son

Face your fear.  Learn about what you fear.  Understand it.

Fear is the weapon of choice for many cult-type operations.  They get you to fear the consequences, the rules, and the mystery of their organization and with fear comes avoidance.  We fear what we don’t understand.  That is a powerful tool – instilling fear into followers.

When fear sets in we stop asking questions.  We stop understanding.  We stop thinking and making choices for ourselves.  We stop knocking on doors and rattling gates.

Some religious groups use this tactic.  They control with fear. 

I think at times our own government attempts to use this tactic. 

What is it some wise person once said? 

Knowledge Is Power

We don’t step out when we fear.  We tread carefully.

We don’t ask the tough questions when we fear.  We accept things just because someone said so.

And fear grows.  And we shrink smaller into the world of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Denis Waitley gave us this acrostic a few years ago for the word “FEAR”.

     F False

               E Evidence

                         A Appearing

                                   R Real

We fear what we don’t understand.  We fear the unknown.

Years ago, before map-makers got wise, when they would draw a map of their then-known world, at the boundaries of their drawing they would often inscribe these words:

“Beyond this, there be dragons.”

~Earl Nightingale

And when mankind dared to dip a toe into the unknown, look what he found.  He found other worlds, other civilizations and mysteries and knowledge that rapidly expanded our understanding of this world.

And fear dimmed a bit more.

When we flew into space, fear dimmed.

When we discovered penicillin, fear dimmed.

When we performed the first heart transplant, fear dimmed.

When computers came, fear dimmed.

When we analyzed and recovered from every economic downturn, fear dimmed. 

What is the quick cure for fear?

   Knowledge

      Learning

         Reading

            Understanding

               Remembering

And choices!

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time