The dread of the present or the future; immediate or distant
is what fear is all about. With the exclusion of those imposters who say they
are afraid when they are not, most people who claim to fear or act as if they
fear, have honest claims. The false ones are the ones who say, ‘I am afraid
this relationship must come to an end. It is nothing to do with you. It is me’
or ‘I am afraid we would not be granting you a Visa to the United Kingdom on
this occasion’. These false fear proclaimers lack something else beyond the
absence of integrity. They lack sweat, for how can you really be afraid without
sweating?
Fear has its important uses. Snake crawls into a room, fear
spreads like a juicy rumour, everybody reacts like Usain Bolt and the room is
promptly vacated. The adrenaline rush helps in times of emergency. It is also
useful when an important event is coming up. Not sleeping, brain storming and
researching, working hard and aiming for perfection ensures no stone is left
unturned in preparations. It is usually better to arrive at this said event
over prepared than under prepared. Take a country that fears public ridicule in
a world cup year. They plan everything for fear of losing their jobs and
respect if things go wrong under the watchful eyes of the international press.
They plan their team’s diet, pay their players and coaching staff, book their
hotels etc. and when the event comes along, their over planning pays dividends
for they will not argue over players’ payments just before matches kick-off.
The fear of shame is important for individuals, professionals and countries.
Unfortunately some countries fear no shame.
For all the virtues of fear however, it tends to produce
more harm than good in the life of people. While it is acceptable to feel a bit
edgy with impending examinations, public speaking engagements or job
interviews, there are many who fear when there is absolutely nothing to fear.
These are the people who create reasons to fear daily and remain faithful to
their commitment to being afraid all day long. To these people, should an
important event rear its head, they are thrown into a full blown panic.
Creative fearing, like all creative activities involve the
dreaming up of wondrous possibilities when nothing in the present suggests
their remote existence. Like inventors in search of the next big thing that
question ‘what if?’ is followed by ‘why not?’ in the minds of these’ creatives’.
Inspiration comes from everyday occurrences and what better pool of information
for them than the news. There is hardly any news bulletin that does not report
the death of at least two people somewhere in the world. ‘If it happened to
them, it could happen to me’ is a reasonable conclusion to reach at the end of
the news. Over the years, every accident and mishap that might occur during
every activity under the heavens is stored in their minds ready to be recalled
at the drop of a hat. Plane, trains and automobiles do crash as does the stock
market, relationships end, property gets stolen, drinks get poisoned, friends
turn enemies, businesses collapse as do buildings, relatives die, epidemics
spring up, public funds are embezzled and conspiracies abound everywhere; the
list is endless. Musicians usually say
the person with the biggest record collection has a better chance of coming up
with new music. The same applies to fear. To do it creatively, the mind must
store thousands of adverse outcomes so that they are effortlessly applied to
any new scenario that might spring up. Practice then makes perfect and
ingenuity starts to manifest over time. I once had a patient who was riddled
with fear about Birmingham (located in the middle of England and furthest from
the sea in any direction) being hit by a Tsunami. One would expect coastal towns to worry about
such. That is creativity for you. The mind is capable of conjuring up any
eventuality no matter how unrealistic. Is that not why we watch movies; to view
beautiful actors entertain us with the unrealistic and absurd all set to nice
music emanating from brilliant minds?
The television and news is not enough though. Creative
people need a circle of friends. I am sure most people would have noticed how
the very good musicians hang out together as do the top sportsmen. This is what
the late Napoleon Hill called the Master Mind group. To really excel in any
field from the noble to the criminal you need the support of a group. They
serve to reinforce your beliefs and give you inspiration to strive on to excellence.
The fearful who wish to remain so will not hang out with the positive mental
attitude ‘freaks’ who read autobiographies of people with courage and positive
outcomes all day long. The fearful do not read such books. Horror movies,
dramas that linger forever, day time talk shows with guests that do not inspire
are the staple diet of those who fear. They desperately want to see people who
confirm to them what they fear; that life is unfair, life is tough and bad things
happen so what is the point in striving for anything different? These day time
shows will always have someone lying about affairs, paternity or drug use. The
lie detector is always star of the show. A group of people who watch these
programmes will remain paranoid, unadventurous (as adventurers die) and ultimately
depressed.
The final nail in the coffin of the fearful is what
separates the infant creative from the sages of this petrified lifestyle. One
does not become a master in a field by being diligently intentional in applying
ones abilities alone. True greatness comes through the vehicle of premonition.
Knowing for sure that doom is at hand and getting doom hours before the
expected date of arrival. Few attain to this level and this class of people are
a sight to behold. You will be scared having them around to your house because
appliances will erupt in flames and all they would do is smile knowingly,
stroke their beards or hair extensions and say quietly, ‘I knew it’. They fear
every activity will go wrong and like an industrial magnet they attract very
bad thing.
Now, what is the solution to creative fearing?
- Ditch your Master Mind
group; change your phone number and move house if necessary.
- Stop watching the TV for
two months and undergo a negative news feed detox
- Stop clicking on links on
the web promising beheadings by Jihadist or wild animals eating human
beings.
- Never talk about what you
fear
Dr Wilson Orhiunu
Babawilly
6-10-2014
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