[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_text _id=”4″ ][cs_element_image _id=”5″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”6″ ][cs_element_column _id=”7″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”8″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”9″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”10″ ][cs_element_text _id=”11″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”12″ ][cs_element_column _id=”13″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”14″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”15″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”16″ ][cs_element_text _id=”17″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”18″ ][cs_element_column _id=”19″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”20″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”21″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”22″ ][cs_element_text _id=”23″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][cs_element_row _id=”24″ ][cs_element_column _id=”25″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”26″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”27″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”28″ ][cs_element_text _id=”29″ ][/cs_element_column][/cs_element_row][/cs_element_section][/cs_content][cs_content_seo]I’ve had my experience of fear in my life. Fear of illness. Fear of failure. Fear of homelessness.
The latter caused my to curl up in a ball, clinging to myself on my bathroom floor. I was terrified that my life had come to the point where I could no longer provide for myself. That I would have no choice but to become homeless.
Then I stood up. I made a decision. I used that fear to push me to fix my life so I would never experience homelessness. (Living in a tent for four months is so much more fun when voluntary!)
My fear had pushed me to my breaking point.
Right now, many Americans are experiencing that fear. Covid-19 has created record unemployment claims, while others are hunkered down trying to stay healthy. While it is terrifying, you have the choice to let it propel you to a better tomorrow.
Fear is Natural
Fear is good for changing our perspective. It developed as a natural response to things that could harm us. Thunder? Seek shelter. Brightly colored snake? Don’t go near it. Fear uses our senses to moderate our responses. Without fear, we would do stupid stuff a lot more often.
The problem is that our fear can get out of control. It can rise up whenever we think about going out of our front door. Or changing jobs. Or running out of toilet paper.
….
Toilet paper, seriously? Psychologically, our fear is driving us to do something to fix the problem. Since it is impossible for us to address the virus that is causing the fear, our brain prompts us to do anything to mitigate the fear.
Fear can be so overwhelming, that we remain in our harmful habits to minimize the fear. Going to work everyday, avoiding new things, and bing watching Grey’s Anatomy (again) reduces fear. Our brain rewards these actions. Because the normal becomes easy, we hesitate anytime a change happens in life.
Even if that change could lead us somewhere amazing.
Find a Greater Fear
We reach for the toilet paper anytime we are faced with a seemingly overwhelming situation. I used to weigh a hundred pounds more than I do right now. Sure, I wanted to lose weight, but I was to scared. Unsure of where to start, I would look the experts. Fast! Run a mile each day! Don’t fast! Count calories! Stay high protein. Frustrated with all the options, I finally found comfort- in food.
It wasn’t until one rainy day when I went to the Doctors and he informed me I would need to start on insulin that I found a greater fear. Needles? No thanks! I did everything I could to lose weight after that. Anytime I wanted to reach for a piece of cake, I would think, “Diabetes or cake?” (Cake might have won a time or two.)
Does that mean I was incapable of losing weight before that? No. I just hadn’t reached my breaking point. I needed a bigger fear to drive me to lose weight. The fear of diabetes drove me to ignore my fear of change.
Fear in the Time of Coronavirus
Right now, as we face an unprecedented time of fear in our nation, we can let it do two things.
1. Paralyze us. Our fear can drive us to stop trying. We can all just give up, steal toilet paper out of the hands of the elderly, and start shooting our neighbors. The kind of anarchy we see in The Hunger Games or The Walking Dead can become our everyday life. (I don’t know about you, but I prefer a working government that doesn’t believe in human sacrifices.)
Or….
2. We allow our fear to drive us. We rise from the ashes like a phoenix and insist on becoming something more. We become greater than what we were.
After every world war, we have come out a better, happier nation. People swing for the fences when they are up against the wall. The amount of research coming out every day about Covid-19 is staggering in its breath and speed. With everyone working colabroratly, we are seeing amazing things that our healthcare system is capable of. We are also learning there are lots of places where we can improve.
During World War II, when all the men were fighting, women stepped up to operate the factories. This shift created a bigger push for Women’s Rights. We would be nowhere as far as we are in equal pay without the lack of factory workers during that harrowing time. Now is the time to innovate, changing our world for the better.
Collectively, fear can bring out the worst or best of humanity. It is up to you to chose where the story goes.
How to Apply Fear
There are plenty of households in the country that have been living month to month. They weren’t particularly scared to spend their extra cash on fun and fast food because they knew they were healthy enough to make more money next month. Now that all has changed. People are lying awake at night, afraid how they are going to pay for food. Or avoid homelessness.
As the stimulus is heading out, I had a realization that such a small sum of money shouldn’t make me so happy. Thankfully I am not reliant on it for groceries, but I know some people who are.
In the richest country in the history of the world, no one should ever wonder where their next meal is coming from. Our county is one of the most food insecure in the state. Yet we haven’t had the motivation to change it. Until we experience it for ourselves.
So take your frustration, that fear and remember it. Cherish it until the time comes when you say, “Never again will I ever be this broke.” Then change your life!
Fear can paralyze us. It can also be the force that drives us.
Let your fear drive you.
And then weild it to change the world.
I am participating in #staywrimo this April and writing 22 blogposts (I need my weekends!). This is post 2 of 22. <br>Post 1, <a href=”https://www.rachaelestout.com/coronavirus-the-moral-of-the-story/”> Coronavirus: The Moral of the Story </a>
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