Comments on: Declaring Independence from Fear

By: cheryl

cheryl — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:26:45 +0000

Late for the 4th, but in time for Bastille Day — a kick-in-the -pants post, 5 star. Fear strangles the life out of us – you are right. I’m joinng this revolution today.

By: Jonathan Malory

Jonathan Malory — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:54:35 +0000

It’s taken me a long time, decades actually, but I’ve been trying as much as possible to adopt a ‘feal the fear and do it anyway’ attitude in the last few years. I’ve done all sorts of things that my brain/fears would have prevented me from doing before, and in fact it still tries pretty hard to stop me now sometimes, but I know once I’ve committed myself and there’s no turning back the fears just kind of accept the situation and give up. After all, when I say ‘fears’ it’s just part of me, so there’s no point in making me panic when I’m already on the plane (for example) in the air becausen it might put me in danger just by being afraid.

By: John M Grohol PsyD

John M Grohol PsyD — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:14:02 +0000

Although not everything I write is from direct experience, this entry very much is. Many times in my life, I’ve let fear rule the day, preventing me from taking chances, pursuing opportunities, or just trying something new. About twenty years ago, however, I had an epiphany of sorts — I wasn’t going to let fear dictate what I was or wasn’t going to do any more.

Since that time, I have not been perfect in adhering to this independence from fear, but I have been far better than I was in the first half of my life. And it was a very refreshing and invigorating experience to make that decision.

I hope others find the courage to do the same!

By: Jonathan Malory

Jonathan Malory — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:46:22 +0000

That’s an interesting and original idea. I was making fun of my claustrophobia deamon today when discussing how scary it would be to be stuck in a space shuttle out in space, or be stuck in a submarine.

I said, “I wonder what my claustrophobia deamon would choose if I was put on the spot [because I never know sometime wjhen it's going to appear and what rediculous roue of escape it's going to suggest to me] and asked to pick, on pain of death, to go in the space shuttle mission of the submarine mission?”

Obviously, if i declared independence and gave the deamon the boot I would be able to pick myself nased on which one sounds the most fun. Still, in some odd way, it would be kind of fun to see the little devil skirm at the above choice.

By: Therese J. Borchard

Therese J. Borchard — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:04:54 +0000

You kill me, John. This is a brilliant way to incorporate the theme of the holiday. I shall declare my independence a day from tomorrow.