Fears

In our world, we have many fears.  We fear what is going to happen next.  We fear various animals.  We fear the dark.  We fear the roads we travel and if the plane will land safely. Sometimes we fear many other things. The truth is, both real and often unrealistic fears boil down to one thing. Fear of the unknown.

Fear of the unknown is very big fear. If I let my son go camping with the Boy Scouts will he be safe this weekend? If I let my daughter go to a slumber party will she be safe or are the kids going to find alcohol and get drunk? What happens if I am laid off from work? How will we eat and how will we pay the rent?

Being afraid and is a terrible thing. I know where I talk of because I lived the majority of my life in fear. Afraid of each decision I made, and afraid of where the decision would be right or wrong, and what the consequences could be. And, I was afraid to let anybody know I felt that way.

For me, it took hitting rock bottom the point where it took me two hours to drive home from the market, only two blocks away. I  had fear that whatever I said on the phone would be misinterpreted and taken has a danger or threat. And, even fear of my coworkers, I was not sure if I was doing enough to help them or not, and I was always checking up to make sure they were okay.

For me, I got to the point where I realized as much as I wanted to keep these concerns secret, for fear of what people would think, I knew I had to get help. I made a call and set up an appointment with a doctor. The doctor prescribed me a medicine to curb these worries. My first question to him was, “If I am afraid to drive now, why would you give me drugs? I do not want to drive on drugs.”  He laughed, looked at me and said, Well, I drive on those roads also, and I am not going to give you anything that puts anyone else in danger.”

It took a month for the drugs to take good effect, and I slowly release the fears. Not spending all my time worrying, allowed me to make far better decisions and start to enjoy my life a little bit. As time went on, I compared myself with the character on the TV show Monk. Tony Shalhoub had better writers, and I had better meds.

I write this to encourage everyone not to live in fear. If you need help seek out help, remember most fear is fear of the unknown. The fact is 65% of everything we worry about never comes to pass. I also recommend that when you fear something, do some research, get on the web and look up whatever it, and learn all you can.Knowledge is power. Should you still be worried about really dangerous things? I am. Just know what you are afraid of, do your research, and make sure the fear is rational one.

Please share this with friends, colleagues, and anyone else you would like.  You never know when a chance emailing can change someone’s life for the better.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof