A couple of years ago when I was in Mexico on vacation, a pelican tried to kill me when I was swimming. Sure it was most likely just flying over me and chilling by itself, but I thought I was going to be violently pecked to death because it kept following me. Therefore, I may or may not be slightly afraid of pelicans. In addition to being displeasing to the eye, these spine chilling and belligerent birds have been the cause of nightmares as well as the reason for my brief research on fear. Generally fears are generated from traumatic instances and experiences in your life, more often than not, budding from childhood, i.e. my very traumatic experience with the vicious pelican. So I chose to inform readers about why we fear considering that everybody has some kind of fear, whether it’s completely normal like a fear of spiders or of heights, or a weird aversion to pelicans such as myself. Although scarring occasions can cause the development of a specific fear, we also develop fear as a preservation method. We wouldn’t survive for long if we weren’t afraid of anything. We would go freediving with sharks, take up sword swallowing and attempt to reenact the countless scenes atop of moving trains in spy movies because fear (and common sense for that matter) wouldn't be holding us back. Try to imagine if humans weren't afraid of anything… our world would be in total chaos and the population would dwindle drastically. Yet, if humans had no fears, there would be no fear of judgment, failure or any mental barriers to stop someone from doing something they really want to do and that could positively impact their surroundings. Then again the world would still be in complete disarray, so I guess that wouldn't really matter or help anyways. Fear comes from imagination, we imagine what could happen, and the worst case scenarios in any given situation. For example if you are afraid of the dark, it is because you imagine something bad happening whilst in the dark, furthermore, we sometimes experience fear due to anticipation. Some people naturally have more anticipation and more imagination than others, and that causes them to develop multiple fears because they can imagine different things happening that stem from one event or thought. Imagination is a very beneficial quality to have because it makes your life more exciting and colourful, but on the other hand you may find that you acquire more fears. Anticipation is not a prime quality to possess in certain situations because then you might live most of your life in fear of what could happen, and miss out on some amazing experiences. Back in grade 8, I did a little personal research project on the different kinds of fears and why people have them because I was always curious as to why I personally haven’t experienced many situations involving fear. There are multiple ways someone can respond to a situation in which they’re nervous or scared, the fight, flight or freeze response includes the ways someone will react. Fight or flight is the natural response of humans when we are presented with an urgent or sudden act of danger, even if there is no immediate threat and someone is only perceiving something as a potential danger. Just as it sounds, “fight” is when someone chooses to confront the situation, and “flight” is when they avoid it or choose to run away. Most people aren’t aware that freeze is also a common reaction, when deciding to freeze, the person will lock up and won’t react at all. Fight or flight can be a useful mechanism, although, occasionally it isn't always a valid reaction. Half the time, fight or flight is triggered by a false alarm such as a sudden loud sound. How to cope and hopefully overcome your fears
Fear is beneficial and non-beneficial in many ways. It keeps us from making bad or stupid decisions, and from dangerous or painful experiences that could happen if we didn't have fear to prevent us. On the other hand, if we fear everything we could miss out on so many amazing experiences and most of life's many beauties and mysteries. As “Lotto 649” says, “the world is your playground”, don't let fear hold you back from the gifts that life has to offer. So live it up. Georgia F
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For the last little bit I have been majorly struggling on what I wanted to do after high School. But then I had a long talk with my parents and realized that it’s ok to struggle a little bit, there are always people there to help me. Graduating and starting your life is really terrifying especially if you’re like me and have no idea what your path in life is all about. The strategies I am using and will continue to use forever are simple. I accept that I don’t know what the future holds, I work towards my short term goals which are doing the homework assignment I missed or studying for a test that is coming up. I get asked all the time ‘what School are you going to after high School?’... I never know what to say I am just awkward and say ‘I’m not sure yet’ or ‘I don’t really have one in mind yet’. People don’t always know what they want to do straight out of high school and there are many options for you. You can stay home and get a job, try to earn some money. Another option is you can travel if you have money saved up. Or even take a year off, work full time for that year and if you still have no clue what you would like to do? Travel! One of my biggest dreams is to travel to world, I want to go to every country and just live my life like that. Obviously you can’t travel forever, I believe travelling will help you maybe find a passion or a different point of view of your life, I’m hoping something will just click or I will see something that I’m driven towards that will help me find my career path.
It’s very hard to get a handle on things these days if you have no idea what you want to do. Maybe you just haven’t found your passion yet and that’s alright not everyone has yet! I certainly haven’t, I’m graduating soon and my life is going to start, my real life. I’m not going to see my best friends everyday in Spanish class or choir class, there’s no more signing up for flex class with Mrs.C I will be working and traveling and figuring out my life my way. If you’re scared to leave high School like me or have not a clue what you want to do after you graduate, talk to your sibling or family or friend they understand the struggles of graduating and how terrifying it is. There are always options for everyone that will help you get through this difficult time. Sophia Ross |
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