Fear: What Is It Good For?

Fear can be an incredibly useful emotion, but it is also very tricky. Applied in moderation, it keeps us from going into situations where we might get hurt. However, excessive fear can also keep us stuck.

Healthy fear is the reason most of us run away from fire and don't try to cuddle with grizzly bears. We also use fear to alert us to much subtler dangers; for instance, when figuring out whether to trust a new acquaintance, whether to go to a new place, or whether to try a new activity. We will experience some level of anticipatory fear about these potential new experiences as we evaluate them against our past experiences as well as our accumulated knowledge about what is and isn't dangerous. If that fear is too much, we will likely avoid that new person, place, or thing. If the fear is bearable, we will likely proceed even if we do so cautiously.

All-in-all it's a good system that has been working since our caveman days... that is, as long as our internal fear meters are working properly. What happens, though, when we begin to react to every potential new experience as though it were a blazing fire or a charging grizzly bear? At that point, fear is no longer a useful indicator of risk. Trusting that kind of fear would very quickly limit the people, places, and things we are willing to engage with. It would keep us from ever trying anything new and therefore from growing. Managing our fear is a delicate balancing act.

Take a moment to think about ways fear has kept you safe and ways it might be holding you back.