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
8 Comments
Janeva
1/28/2019 10:40:42 am
Thank you for opening up about your fear! It's difficult to share these types of things; as you said, people can be judged - which further develops more fears. Birds are a pretty common fear, so don't feel ashamed! I was attacked by crows in my own front yard when I was five years old and I'm still freaked out by them. I will take up breathing as my coping mechanism, because I tend to either freeze or flight - but mostly flight because I run away from crows.
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Christina
1/28/2019 10:40:49 am
Great blog! I know that we all have fears, whether they are rational or irrational.
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Matthew
1/28/2019 10:41:29 am
what an interesting blog. Your view on the world if we had no fear in quite intriguing to think about- what would happen to us? i bet that we would all be dead in a few days except for a small select few cuz if we wernt scared of death then we would just do all the stupid things that we thought of.
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Connor
1/28/2019 10:44:02 am
I never thought of fear and anticipation corresponding with each other. I mean it makes total sense, but it never crossed my mind that you hey interconnected with each other. I have a HUGE fear of clowns so I will definitely try and mentally prepare myself and “anticipate” the moment in which I may see a clown the next time I go to a fair/carnival or something of the sort.
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emily
1/28/2019 10:44:08 am
thank you so much for sharing!! what you wrote is so true about fear and how through anticipation and imagination can also bring anxiety about theoretical situations and it may then develop fears. i find myself to be someone who thinks a lot, and i don't necessarily anticipate the worst but i consider all of the good and bad situations that may come out of what i'm thinking about. this then brings me anxiety and i may be fearful or anxious towards being in that theoretical situation. i can easily relate to this topic and these tips are also so helpful! thank you!
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Kai
1/28/2019 10:46:11 am
I really like your story of Pelicans:D
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maiko
1/28/2019 10:51:22 am
I like your blog! You brought an really important point that fear is also need to live a life. I always have fear of life after graduating high school and i still haven't have solution to this. I constantly reminds of this and get so trapped in this box of fear. I tried identifying where it comes from, but obviously it is my future so, but like you suggested, talking to others about this might help this situation. Great blog. Thank you
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Hayley
1/28/2019 10:51:58 am
I like that you showed that fears can be limiting but that they are also used so that we don't attempt to do really risky things (at least without any training) I think that's important to know the difference between common sense and a limiting fear.
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