Will You Fear this Year?

A Decision

Fear is a hyper-sensitive topic, and because it stems from uncertainty and the unknown, it can act like a viral infection. It starts with individuals, spawns into entities and eventually to nations with world threatening potential. Its spread can be serious business.

We are all saddled with it to some degree. Individually, we cannot stop fear and its effects, so it essentially boils down to the management of it.

Couple of examples:

In the positive: You can use fear as a teaching tool: cautioning kids about the threat of street traffic while bicycle ridding, lightening, poisons, bad habits, etc.

In the negative: It is the principle tool of threat used by gangsters, terrorists, corrupt politicians and governments.

Question: In your life, is fear dominating, crippling or manageable? Since it can vary so widely and unexpectedly, awareness and supervision could be a minimum goal. But, if it is left unchecked or ignored, fear can ultimately be debilitating.

Fear comes in various forms (examples):

Call reluctance…fear of rejection
Fear of the sneer of your peer…fear of acceptance
Stage Fright…fear of performance
Fear of death...fear of eternity
Fear of...(fill it in)

The key is to recognize that fear is a real issue, face it head on and do not let it get a lethal grip on your life. A few nuggets of wisdom:

Leaders and Presidents

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) Thirty-second President of the USA.

Fear God and you need not fear anyone else.
Woodrow T. Wilson (1856-1924) Twenty-eighth President of the USA.

Bible Verses
[Bible verses (KJV) has about 400 references to the word “fear”].

Fear no evil…Fear not…God hath not given us a spirit of fear…Do not fear them which can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body into hell.

Weigh man-made fear as opposed to a “peace that passes all understanding”

Various miscellaneous quotes

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
Napoleon Bonaparte. French general.

You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. Remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind.
Dale Carnegie. American writer.

Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.
Ralph Waldo Emerson. U.S. poet, essayist and lecturer.

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was fearful to do.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) American industrialist.

Point is…This is a very dominate subject in all our lives. Could it be that as a part of this year’s resolution, it should include a pro-active plan of how and to what degree you will deal with fear more effectively and directly?