Fear

In my opinion there are two types of fears. First, you have your typical phobias; acrophobia, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, etc. These are fears that cause us discomfort and stress from the moment we are exposed to them, but the anxiety only lasts for as long as they're right in front of you. This isn't to say that they aren't relevant. For instance, throughout my life, I've always had a devastatingly strong fear of heights, particularly when it comes to walking up large structures and being able to see the ground from where I stand. This fear isn't so much the fear of being up high, but rather it's the idea from falling that really scares me. I've met many people with phobias and often times they stem from a traumatic experience. This makes them integral to who they are as a person. These are still important because they become one of the biggest things that one can overcome. Being able to conquer the first type of fear gives you a rush of adrenaline and a massive sense of accomplishment that will show an individual that they aren't confined by what scares them. Then you have the second type of fears, which are more big picture. These are fears such as being afraid you wont succeed in life, that you won't find purpose or validation, or that you won't leave an impact on this world before you leave it. For me personally, the second type of fear is worse for one very good reason: they never go away. We have to deal with these fears every minute of every day of our lives. Fear is our natural instinct of needing to survive and therefore avoiding anything that would impede said survival. But the second type of fear is so much more than that. The second type of fear isn't about survival, it's being scared that you won't fulfill something more than simply surviving. That something means something different for everyone. Fear, however, isn't necessarily a bad thing. From what I can tell, when we are presented with something we fear, we are given two options: either to give into the fear, to buckle under it and let it keep us down, or to use it as motivation to fuel us and push us forward. In the analogy of the "carrot or stick" sometimes the stick is the type of motivation that someone needs more. In the end, fear is something that every human being will experience and, in a way, that's strangely comforting. Knowing that you're not alone makes a big difference in how you look at life.