Fear,worry & anxiety

By Murli Chari

Fear is one of the worst emotions that paralyses our rational and logical thinking. Some of the instinctive fears are good but most of them are emanating from our imaginations. Fear of dangers of accident keeps us safe, fear of wild animals is no doubt real. Fear of being punished for wrongdoings is also valid. Fear is also expressed as an acronym “Fake events appearing real”. Napoleon Hill in his book “Think and Grow Rich” has enlisted following fears: Fear of Death Fear of Public speaking Fear of illness Fear of poverty Fear of Criticism Fear of failure The best antidote for fear is to do what we fear the most. Most of the fears have been developed during our years of hunter-gathering. Those days fear served a great defense to survive being devoured by the wild animals. These instincts are firmly ensconced in our recesses of subconscious minds. Over centuries these have become of reflexes. Fear can be used positively. Fear of death can be used to safeguard ourselves from the dangers. Fear of failure can be used to prepare ourselves to succeed. Fear of public speaking can be overcome by practicing what speech we have to deliver. We

can start addressing small friendly gatherings as that would enhance our confidence. Fear of illness can be made good use of taking better care of our health. There is a famous dialogue from the blockbuster movie Sholay “Jo dar gaya samjho mar gaya.” This means one who fears dies. One more tag line from an advertisement for a fizz drink “Dar ke aaage jeet hai”. This means beyond fear is success. Worry is incessant thinking about something bad in the future. This has no base as it is due to skewed thinking which has no base. Some people have this worrying temperament. One gets into this loop of imagining bad things to happen. Worry it is said that it thinks about future and squandering the present moment where the real life lies. Worry is like sitting in a rocking chair which appears to be moving but it remains at the same place. Mostly women are temperamentally of worrying type. With mindfulness practice this malady can be overcome. It is said worry robs you of the present. Self-pity and self-consciousness are the major factors which lead to worrying. If one is selfless all the problems responsible for worry evaporate. If we allow the dynamics of the universe to work the need for worry is taken care of. Its only human beings who are beset with worry. We must realize that no amount of worrying is going to solve the problem. We have to take concrete actions based on courage. Anxiety is again worrying about the result. This is nothing attachment to results. We need to realize that we have to focus only on efforts and remain neutral to results. It is the

expectation of the desired results which lead to anxiety. Anxiety plays havoc with our psyche. As per the great epoch making book Gita Krishna propounds “ Karmanye vadi Karasthe maphaleshu kadachana” meaning be concerned only with the efforts and do not expect fruits. This makes sense as expecting results while putting efforts divides the focus which leads to shoddy results. The couplet does not convey that we need not enjoy the fruits of efforts. But once we remove the results from focus our chances of succeeding are more. Anxiety means that we are worried about the future results of our present action. Fear, worry, and anxiety are to be kept at bay for a happy living. All these three works in tandem as those who are chicken-hearted have these three in great abundance thus making their lives miserable. The deadly combination of fear, worry, and anxiety are very lethal and can have deleterious impact on our lives. In some measure they are fine and can be used as a catalyst and a safety valve. Only because of social conditioning that we have received them as a legacy from well-meaning near and dear ones, friends, teachers, religious tenets and their ilk. These are the signs of immaturity and lack of confidence. Once we show courage these straw monsters will run away and make our lives supremely blissful.