The Face of Fear

Most businesses are back in operations, albeit at a much lower volume during this Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) period. While the rest of the world is ramping up, I've been slowing down a bit these past two weeks, mainly because I've been operating at full steam for the past months. Feels like I need a bit of recharging. I also need some time to consolidate the various pieces of work that I have done.

The other day I had my first mug of Starbucks coffee in 3 months. Working from a cafe is not going to fun anymore with all the rules that are now in place. It looks like I will continue to work from home for the foreseeable future. New habits are easy to acquire as long as we are willing to consciously place them into our daily routine. If you stick to it for a week, usually you'll be alright with it.

The key word is 'consciously'. Most of the things we do in life are unconscious. We tend to follow the path of least resistance, or one that is delimited by fear. Fear guides many of our actions. Fear imprisons us in the comforts of our mediocrity. Only when this safe zone of comfort is challenged, are we forced to rise up to face our fears.

Why do we let fear rule our lives then? Part of it is due to the way we were brought up. Parents tend to plant fears into the minds of their children out of an abundance of caution. The relative success of our pademic lockdown is partly due to the fear planted in us the government and the mass media. Pain, shame, sickness and death are things that fear threatens us with to keep us in check. It is this aversion to pain and a natural alignment towards easy comforts that dictate most of our actions and decisions.

If we are conscious of our fear and feel it as an experience in the body, we can learn to put it in its proper place. Fear is just a warning mechanism nature has built into us. It has saved the lives of any of our ancestors--that is why our genes are living now. But in the greater part of our modern waking life, fear is just a hindrance to our wellbeing. Fear are like obstacle blocks put in our paths. If we know how to see them as that, we can blast them away--like obstacle props in a video game, placed to give us a more exciting challenge.

Yes, let's put fear in its proper place--as mere barriers in an obstacle course, designed to test and bring the best out of you. Feel the palpitations of fear and acknowledge that it is nature's response to an emergency situation. Adrenaline will be pumping but see it as extra energy that shouldn't be wasted. Fear can drive us to achieve greater heights. Just acknowledge its signal, set the necessary mental switches and then propel yourself forward with a greater sense of purpose--now made wiser by your early warning system. Fear is just that, an alarm: more often than not, a false one.

Fear is like a loud crying kid seeking his parents' attention. But once the kid's concern is acknowledged, the tantrums subsides. Treat fear that way. Acknowledge it. Give it fair attention and let him know that his concerns are taken into consideration. And then move on. Fear is annoying but we don't have to make it too big a deal. Face fear with kindness and a knowing smile.