Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Fear

Fear is a stupid emotion. Fear leads to irrational behavior. For example I see I Spider running across the table, what do I do, jump up and freak out, even if it is little. Is that rational? No, what are the chances of it killing me, not huge, what are the chances of it even biting me, also not huge, it is scared of me too, and should be because I am huge, compared to it, and am going to squish it. So why do I jump up and freak out? Fear also leads us to do other irrational things, what do you do if you are scared of hurting someones feelings? Or scared to let them down? I very much dislike fear. What is the opposite of fear? Jaded people would say it is innocence. Like someone who knows the reality of having a tragedy happen in their life. They no longer think it wont happen to them. And they usually think that if you aren't afraid of it happening to you, well, that is because you are too innocent. But we really can't walk around being afraid of everything, but not protecting ourselves at all is also stupid. So where do we stand? How are we to know the truth? Where is the line between protecting yourself and living in a bubble. We can't be experts in everything. My only conclusion is that we do need to educate ourselves as best we can, spend more time on learning and less time wasted on other less important activities. And that as we do that we need to pray. we need to worship our Father in Heaven daily, in order to have his spirit. We need to be in tune to it, in order to hear and understand it. With the most education we can have and with the power of the Holy Ghost we will be able to make good choices for ourselves and our family.

5 comments:

  1. This is good Halley.

    I always think that the opposite of fear is power. If we study, practice, and have confidence we can overcome our fears.

    This is were my frog phobia (or anything small and hoppy) comes from. I don't feel I have control, or power over them. That is what makes me afraid.

    Some would say the opposite is bravery. But I think thats wrong too. Bravery and fear exist in the same space. Bravery is just doing it anyway. :)

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  2. The only thing to fear is rear itself. and big spiders.

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  3. Very well said Halley, and Starshine, too. The opposite of fear for me is a combination of power, knowledge and control.

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  4. The scriptures say that fear is the absense of Faith. I think this goes along with what you said in the last half of your post. That we need to educate ourselves, or do all that we can, and then have great faith that we and our families will be taken care of. And understand that "taken care of" does not necessarily mean that we will have everything that we want, be healthy, or be spared trials.

    I've been thinking a lot about fear the last few days too, particularly, fear of success. I haven't come to any conclusions really, but I like what Katey said about the opposite of fear being power. Now, how to unlock that power...

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  5. I like what you all said, I think the first thing I need to do is recognize fear in my life, and how it affects my actions. Before I make choices I need to ask myself what is motivating my action, is it fear? If so what would I do if I weren't afraid? Like Katy said bravery and fear can exist at the same time, bravery is not letting fear determine your action. The other thing I need to do just what Amelia said, faith. I need to have great faith. It is hard for me because I know bad things happen to good people, I know I do not have the power to stop that, but I also know that although I will have to experience bad things in life, my Heavenly Father will be with me, he will lift me up, and bless me. I know this because I have experienced it.

    I know this comment is getting long, but I feel the need to share this. I don't think I have shared it with very many people, if anyone at all and I should. My testimony that our Heavenly Father is real and knows each of us individually and loves us comes from one day, one moment in my life. When I experienced what you could call the worst day of my life. In those indescribable minutes of horror I felt calm, I was thinking clearly and thoughts came into my head on their own, I felt peace and reassurance, I felt the Spirit. In that moment I knew, and I still know my Heavenly Father knows me, he loves me, and he watches over me. Now if only I could remember that feeling can carry it with me.

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