It's a perfectly normal day. You're home alone, jamming to some of your favorite tunes while lying on the couch as you creep on an old high school friend's Instagram page. You pause abruptly right before you have the chance to display your Adele-like vocals; that was most definitely the faint yet distinct sound of someone knocking on your door, disrupting your sweet solitude. Curses! A feeling of dread seeps into you as you get up to face an obligatory social interaction. As you trundle down the hallway, phone still in hand, you can't help but notice that the closet at the end of the hall has been left open just a crack and that you can indisputably see the tip of a big toe sticking out. The toe is undoubtedly attached to a body which unmistakably belongs to an axe-wielding, cannibalistic Shia Labeouf. As he bursts forth from the closet, fresh blood stuck to his scraggly beard, you're so startled that you accidentally double-tap a 4 year old picture of your old high school friend. Sheer terror - now everyone will know who you were stalking on social media! For a moment you disregard Shia as the social implications of this blunder rush through your head, then snap back to reality to flee the maniacal clutches of the axe-murderer. Right as you're about to call 911 you notice an email from your professor reminding you of the thirty-minute presentation you completely forgot about, fantastic.
As demonstrated by this fictional example, fear is a versatile emotion that can be triggered by countless different situations. There are many causes of fear, so it is not surprising that there are different types of fear as well as variations of emotional intensity that accompanies each of them. Be it either the dread of a social interaction or the phobia of axe-murderers hidden in closets, fear is experienced by all human beings. It is my belief, and that of Hollywood star Shia Labeouf, that the most common and groundless fear is the fear of failure.
Fear is defined as the unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or is a threat. The reason Shia Labeouf is so adamant about not "letting your dreams be dreams" is that we often cripple ourselves with unnecessary fears because we believe that we're keeping ourselves safe. This is not to say fear is never necessary; in many situations it is. Fear is a natural human emotion that protects us from harm; the fear of burning ourselves keeps us from touching the hot stove just like the fear of death keeps us from jumping off of skyscrapers. If someone was totally and completely without fear, they wouldn't last very long. So if fear is such a beneficial human emotion, why is being a fearful person looked down upon by Shia?
To quote fiction writer Patrick Rothfuss, "There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man." There are healthy, wise fears that will keep us safe and help us through life with success, and there are fears that just don't make any sense. These are what we call irrational fears, meaning that it is utterly illogical to be subject to them. There's even a list of legitimate phobias people have that are - admittedly - laughable. Some include: asymmetriphobia - the fear of asymmetrical things, chronomentrophobia - the fear of clocks, and genuphobia - the fear of knees.
Fears like these are often caused by traumas and bad experiences. Similarly, bad experiences and embarrassment are at the root of the most common fears, such as public speaking or failure. They keep us from being able to put ourselves out there, take risks, and find success. The fear of failure is an affliction that touches nearly everyone at some point of their life. Seeing someone being held back only by themselves, through the power of their own fears, is heartbreaking to behold. I urge my readers not to disappoint Shia. Instead of letting your dreams be dreams, expose yourselves to your fears and imagined failures if you want to find success in your endeavors. In other words, just do it.
