Fear can be contagious. There are many things that motivate us and yet the most powerful motivator of all is fear. Fear is a primitive instinct that served us as cave dwellers and today. Fear keeps us alive because if we survive a bad experience, we never forget how to avoid it in the future. Our most vivid memories are born in Fear. Adrenaline etches them into our brains.
Nothing makes us more uncomfortable than fear. And, we have so many: fear of pain, disease, injury, failure, not being accepted, missing an opportunity, and being scammed to name a few. Fear invokes the flight or fight syndrome; and our first reaction is always to flee back to our comfort zone. If we don’t know the way back, we are likely to follow whoever shows us a path.
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” Eleanor Roosevelt
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Yoda
“The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.’ Marie Curie
“The key to change… is to let go of fear.” Roseanne Cash
“He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.” Marilyn Monroe
“Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“Have no fear of perfection you’ll never reach it.” Salvador Dali
“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” Helen Keller
“I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.” Louisa May Alcott
“One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.” Henry Ford
“Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.” Babe Ruth
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