Forget Your Fears

We are all afraid of something or the other. Monica Fernandes writes about some of the fears that make life difficult and why we should overcome them

- Monica Fernandes

Fear generally is an irrational emotion as most of our fears are not based on facts. It cripples our actions and destroys our peace of mind. Unfortunately we are sometimes bogged down with fears for the major part of our lives. This emotion arises from our lack of faith in ourselves, others and god. We wrongly believe that we are just not good enough to perform a certain task or to face a given challenge. Great individuals have faced the challenge of overcoming these fears instead of being a slave to them. What are some of these fears?

Criticism

People will criticize. This fear is often a major deterrent to moving forward. The fact is that critics will dog our footsteps whatever we do or say. Constructive criticism is a blessing for it could help us to move forward. When I embarked on writing as a hobby, I sent an article to the then editor of Woman’s Era. It was a descriptive article about my daily commute to work and back. I wrote at length about the sights from the window, the people I met, and so on. My contribution came back with a short note, suggesting that I re-write the piece so as to give some tips to the readers about commuting by train. This was valuable advice coming from an expert and stood me in good stead in the years to come.

Mean or destructive criticism is generally a sign of either jealousy (“She paints better than me”) or a false sense of superiority (“I am the best artist around and look down on these amateurs”). It is pertinent to mention that we are all given talents in varying degrees for reasons that god knows best. All of us cannot be Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, the Florentine sculptor, painter, architect, and poet or others like him. But all of us can maximise our talents for our benefit and for those around us.

Failure