In a perfect utopia, we would want to banish our fears forever and never have to revisit them. As appealing as that sounds, that is not the case in the real world. We must face our fears in order to move past them and get on with our lives. What scares us the most is what holds us back on a lot of missed out opportunities. In a world that is constantly evolving, we must "change" as well. By change, I mean we must work to improve ourselves. For me, I know that the pain or whatever feeling that I'm enduring right now is only temporary. It is better to "get it over with" rather than drag it out over time and feel worse about yourself.
From what I've noticed, people have the tendency to ignore their problems or their fears by distracting themselves in order to prolong it. This is not the best approach because it does not allow us room to reevaluate our lives and know what we want to change. It does not allow us time to think things through and actually work on them. With that being said, this fear that we have will come back to haunt us if we do not face eventually. Think of it as a way of avoiding responsibility by procrastinating on a task. When we are avoiding doing something important, it catches up on us and we regret not approaching it sooner. I compare it to drinking alcohol with friends (going out) or having meaningless sex with multiple partners. It may seem like a good idea at the time (depending on the person) and it may distract us from getting into a bad mood, but it does not solve our problems and make them go anywhere further. Our problems will always be in the back of our heads ready to come up again when we are reminded of them (almost like a relapse period).
My two favorite quotes about fear remind me that it is a barrier that we need to cross. "Everything you want is on the other side of fear" -Jake Canfield and "Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins." -Charles Stanley. It only slows us down and does not allow us time to grow and learn from our experiences.
In the end, there is something we all must remember when it comes to dealing with our fears. The pain is temporary and everything happens for a reason. In life, we learn from our good and bad experiences. It is important to take some time and reflect on our experiences. We mature from our bad experiences and we learn over time what we want to happen for the future. Only then will we feel at peace with ourselves and the fear is gone.
