Of Fear

It's been 35 years since I've walked on this earth, and there are a good number of things I have learnt about this emotion they call fear. It is a useful emotion, like pain. But like pain, it should never be indulged. Here are a few of those lessons.

1. Fear is as real as you allow it to be. Don't ever diss a person's fear. It is real as far as he or she is concerned. 
2. Logic does not banish fear. Logic, brain. Fear, emotion. Wrong body part. 
3. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the willingness to take action in spite of fear. 
4. Bungee jumping does not cure one's fear of heights. Believe me, I tried. 
5. No decision made in fear will ever be the right one. It might not be wrong. But it'll never be right. 
6. I believe that fear, like problems cannot be overcome at the same level of emotional maturity that created it. 
7. Fear is a habit. As such, anything that can be used to change habit can be used to overcome fear. 

I am still afraid nowadays. It seems like the more I care about something, the more fear I have. The answer of course, is not to NOT care. But to do something, anything in spite of being absolutely terrified. And very often, the closer you get to facing that which you fear, you realize, that it starts to go away. 

And after a while, you come out the other side, buzzed on adrenaline, and thirsty for a beer.