Why You're Not Facing Your Fears
There can be many times in our life that we are genuinely frightened. There might be a physical threat or genuine disaster, but more often than not it is something psychological or emotional. These fears can be just as serious and debilitating as the ones that threaten our lives. They in fact do threaten our lives by inhibiting our ability to live them fully and happily. We may have received some medical news that scares us. We may fear the facing the end of a treasured relationship. We may have financial worries that keep us awake at night. Fear is an extremely common human emotion but that doesn’t mean that we should resign ourselves to living with it. We can accept and recognise our fear without being ruled by it. One of the most dangerous aspects of fear is the way in which it prevents us from taking action. Taking action can often be what ends our fear, but it can be hard to know where to begin.
If you are experiencing fears of any kind and find yourself unable to face them, there are a few principles that can be almost universally applied. You have the power and courage to take control of your mind and emotions and live the happy life that you deserve. Read on for some of the most common reasons that you’re not facing your fears.
You’re Not Being Honest
Honesty can extend to ourselves as well as others. If we find ourself unable to face our fears, it could be because we haven’t truly been honest with ourselves about what they are. We need to be fully, brutally honest about the situation. Begin by being honest with yourself and working your way up to being honest with others. Be clear about what the situation is that scares you, what your fears are specifically, and ways you might be able to address it. Denial can be a hidden part of our fear because our own mind wishes to protect us from trauma. What we don’t realise is that suppresses fear is just as harmful as experiencing it - if not more harmful. Recognise that you’re scared, why you’re scared, and be sincere with yourself and others.
You’re Not Accepting Help
Fear is very good at making us feel isolated and alone. It’s what it does best. It takes courage to reach out to others and sincerely request their help and advice. This is a positive step because fear can often be based on a lack of understanding. Maybe we’re afraid of our financial situation because there is so much of it we don’t understand. Perhaps we fear the repercussions of an illness because we have never heard of it before. Asking for professional, expert advice is a positive step towards facing your fears. Consulting a doctor, an accountant, or a legal separation divorce law firm to name just a few can all support us and lay fears to rest. Speaking to family, friends, and colleagues is also a great step.
You Feel Guilty
One of the reasons we can avoid talking about our fears is because we feel guilty about experiencing them. This is perhaps particularly common with illness-related fears but relates to many others too. The fear of losing someone can make us feel guilty or selfish. We feel that all our focus should be on the other person but instead feel that we are prioritising our own feelings. Returning to honesty, it is important to recognise your true feelings first. Even if you then decide they are unreasonable or unfair, they cannot be averted until you have faced them. More often than not, we have a very good reason for being scared! It is nothing to be ashamed of and should be discussed.
