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A GREAT acronym for the word FEAR is;
False
Expectations
Appearing
Real
The reason for this is that in truth most of our fears aren’t real. They’re in our imagination and when we face them (i.e. put them to the test) we find that they really and truly weren’t real at all.
Anytime we do something new there is a certain amount of psychological fear. The explanation for this is that if it is something new that we are doing, then automatically we are out of our comfort zone.
Solely for the fact that we have never done this before.
Young people have a natural ability to engage with new things. This must be because they are young so everything really is new to them, so they are used to stepping out of their comfort zones. Because they are used to doing this on a regular basis they in turn become comfortable with the accompanying fear.
So comfortable that perhaps they don’t even recognise it as fear.
As adults we are slower to engage with new things and so can become ‘settled in our comfort zone’ unless we challenge ourselves to do something new on a regular basis.
This ‘Challenging’ is very important in my view if we are to continue to have a zest for life.
That is why I have great regard for groups like ‘Probus’ and ‘Toastmasters’ as they regularly encourage their members to face whatever fears they might have and to engage in a new project.
These groups create a warm and engaging atmosphere where members are actively encouraged to step out of their comfort zone.
Without projects and upcoming ventures these groups simply don’t function.
FEAR by its very nature creates resistance and it is always accompanied with an uncomfortable feeling. I would go as far to say that unless we are aware of it, this uncomfortable feeling is ‘a gimme’ when it comes to fear.
However the good news is that it is ‘Only a feeling’ and we humans have the ability to change our feelings.
Let me repeat that sentence if only to help it sink in. We humans have the unique ability to change our feelings.
To this end I am going to suggest another acronym for FEAR…
Feeling
Excited
And
Ready
The beauty of this acronym is that it allows us to change the feeling to excitement when we do something new.
Think of the excitement of a young child going on a train for the very first time and all the good feelings that go with it.
In essence the key to unlocking our fears is to alter the feelings that accompany them.
This is how we can reshape Fear
• Next week I am going to write about — ‘Back to Basics’.
