Each morning, 7.4 billion people wake up and get ready for their days. Maybe it’s getting dressed, maybe it’s going to church. Regardless of what “getting ready” involves, fear will always be present. When people pick out their clothes, sometimes they’re scared that people will judge them for what they’re wearing. When people cross the street, they look both ways because they’re afraid of getting hit. No matter what one does, fear will always be present. Hearing the word “fear” almost always comes with a negative connotation, however, fear can also impact us in positive ways. Fear impacts our lives by motivating us to do the unthinkable.
Often when people think of fear, they think of major things that scare them like the end of the world; not a lot of people think about the little fears. For example, when I was little I went water tubing with my family. I was so scared that my father had to convince me to even try it. After a lot of convincing, I finally did it. I had so much fun, and it was all thanks to me getting over my fear. While water tubing was fun, the fact that I faced a fear while doing it made it so much more enjoyable. The motivation that my fear gave me to get over this fear caused me to do something in the moment and fun, something I wouldn’t normally do, making it unthinkable.
Undeniably, the constant fear that most people have also motivates them to make the world safer. In an event known as 9/11, terrorists from the Al-Qaeda organization hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon building in Virginia, and a field in Pennsylvania (History.com Staff). On September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush said “These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.” The fear that Americans felt after this attack brought the United States together, as this tragedy affected everyone in the USA, not just the people directly involved. The fear of another attack like 9/11 also motivated people to increase the security in our airports and train stations. Another example of fear motivating people to make the world safer would be infant mortality. Infant death rates have dropped from 26 in every 1,000 infants to only 7, in just 40 years (Ropeik, The Consequences of Fear). This would not have been achieved without the efforts of doctors and parents, who were motivated by fear. The increase of security in public places, as well as the decrease in infant mortality rates, were not thought about prior to the things that challenged them, making them both unthinkable.
When people think of “the unthinkable,” they often think of things with bad impacts; however, “the unthinkable” can have a very positive impact. On October 4th, 1957, the Soviet Union (USSR)’s satellite, Sputnik 1, began orbiting Earth. The citizens of the United States were so scared that the Soviets were spying on them, that they retaliated by challenging themselves by landing Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969 (History.com Staff). President John F. Kennedy then said “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Without the Americans’ fear of the Soviets spying on them, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would never have walked on the moon. This advancement lead to many more discoveries, as well as many different countries working together to gather new information about outer space. This fear had the positive impact of motivating Americans to do the unthinkable: putting men on the moon.
While fear has an overall positive impact, some people would argue that it has a negative impact. In his 1933 inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” This quote is valid and makes sense, as fear can lead to mass hysteria. People often let fear stop them from doing things; however, without fear, so many things would not have been accomplished.
In conclusion, without fear, the world would be nowhere near where it is today. People wouldn’t go out of their comfort zones, our public facilities would not be as safe as they are today, and we would not have space travel. All of these things, which are unthinkable, would not be possible without the positive impacts of fear.
