Fear: The Enemy From Within

You're reading Fear: The Enemy From Within, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Have you ever found yourself living under the bondage of fear in all spheres of your life? Then this article is a must-read resource. By the way, I was a victim of self-induced fear for over 20 years. To be precise fear made me lose two of my well-paying jobs. I could not express myself. I remember how I skipped school during my lower classes for several weeks for fear of failing the end of term examinations. Boys younger than me, would bully me, and do you know what I did? I used to run home crying.

Be my guest, as I share my story,

I thought it was a regular occurrence

I never took it serious because I thought it was just a passing cloud. However, its intensity increased, and the consequences were dire. Remember, fear comes in many forms, therefore, knowing its nature, is the only way out.

How did I know that I was under the captivity of fear? A good question, the following were my preliminary observations,

1. I started having goosebumps in my stomach. I always felt as if I had many butterflies in my stomach.
2. My mouth and throat would dry up.
3. I would experience sporadic lapses in breathing.
4. My voice disappearing or being inaudibly low.
5. Feeling tensed all over the body.
6. Sweating profusely.
7. Restlessness and trembling.
8. I was always shy.

I thought this was all; however, I was wrong, this was the beginning. Fear started having far-reaching effects on me. In other words, it started commanding me. I had lost it. I had no power over my reactions anymore.

Here are the far-reaching effects of fear that I encountered

1. I became indecisive. I just followed what others did, said, or thought. I had no opinion of my own.
2. I secluded myself from others and was always in deep thoughts.
3. I started faking things to remain relevant.
4. Everything now became excessive. If it were watching a movie, I would do it excessively and thoroughly. To make matters worse, I started smoking and drinking heavily. I thought this would give me the courage to face fear head-on. However, this was my greatest undoing.
5. My life came into a standstill. I feared to do anything to avoid criticism, correction, or rejection.
6. Fear triggered stress resulting in depression.
7. Fear related actions were the reason I lost my two well-paying jobs.

I have to take control or else…

Yes, I had to do something to regain my self-esteem. I was no match to fear. I had to unmask FEAR!

What did I do?

1. Started reading books and other resources on meditation and slowly, things started working out. I began experiencing some level of confidence and calmness. Remember fear only works well in the absence of faith therefore as I meditated, my inner me was rejuvenated boosting my faith. It dealt fear a big blow.
2. I purposed to attend public events. Yeah, attending games, gyms, exercises, and other social gatherings, this boosted my confidence and self-esteem.
3. I had to stop drinking and smoking altogether. Smoking and drinking can trigger nervousness, which may become an excellent breeding ground for fear.
4. Finally, I connected with people who knew more about or suffered fear or anxiety. I did this through joining Facebook pages and groups that had fear as their theme. Through sharing, I was able to push my confidence to great heights.

I also joined the midweek bible fellowship. As others shared their predicaments, I was able to open up and start sharing. Sharing as I later learned is the most effective way of fighting fear.

A must know

You will lose miserably if you do not know your adversary. Your adversary is FEAR.

What is fear? Fear means being afraid of something or someone. Good still, we can define fear as an inward reaction to a possible threat or harm. Now you know, fear not. Because fear is not what you feel or think.

Conclusion

What have we learned? That fear uses our feelings to manipulate us. However, as we fight fear, we should know that it is part of our neural system. Taming our feelings and emotions will put fear under our will. Fear is the catalyst behind the many actions or decisions we take or make daily. Thank you for being my guest. Let us meet again as we tackle another topic on self-improvement.

You've read Fear: The Enemy From Within, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.