Are You Scared?
Don’t tell the doctor, though — he’ll diagnose you with anxiety.
If you admit that you’re scared all the time, he’ll give you the “anxiety disorder” and if you confess you don’t want to be scared anymore, he’ll tell you you’re depressed. And then the medication will make you feel foggy in the head.
Let the doctors deal with the crazy — you’re not crazy. Unless your fear is that aliens are coming to kidnap you, you’re not crazy.
There are millions of things that you, technically at least, should be afraid of. The world is full of threats. You’ll never get away from them. Literally, never. You’ll never be “fear-free”. Deal with it.
We’re all scared
The best of us are scared of God and nothing else, but most of us are scared of other things more than God.
Most of us crumble under those fears. We live a silent, invisible life safe from most of the perceived threats we know of. The best of us, however, live life to the fullest despite the fears.
Fears die when we face them. Sometimes we have to face them many times for that to happen. For example, the fear of public speaking — which is something most people fear more than they fear death — will not go away by making one public speech. Rather, the experience must be repeated over and over and over. You must be willing to feel the fear, and the almost inevitable embarrassment. You will make mistakes and you will not always be appreciated. But if you keep going, keep going and keep going, the fear will diminish little-by-little, and soon you will be a whole new person who is not afraid of public speaking — you will be unique, exceptional.
Do you want to stop being afraid?
Start doing what you’re afraid of doing. Don’t do anything illogical or unreasonable (or illegal, for that matter). Be sensible, but do what you’re afraid to do. Make that call, say that thing, send that application — why not? You’ll die anyway. Why not try?
