Fear is a very interesting concept and I think it is a word that we have developed to represent a very primal instinctual part of our brain. It is a very small part of our brain, almond shaped area called the amygdala. This part of our brain detects stimulus from our environment and is the primary thing that causes something to stand out. A perfect example of this is the following.
Imagine you are walking on a desert trail in the middle of Mojave or some place like that. You can imagine walking on a dirt path filled with ruts, rocks, small little ant hills. There are plants, brush, cacti, rocks and all sorts of interesting things along the way. The landscape is vast and there are an unlimited number of things to see and to process. What do you pay attention to along the way?
I can guarantee that as you walk your brain will process like this – there is a large brush invading the path up in front of me. There might be a rattle snake in there, I better watch closely and walk to the side. That rut I am walking next to is widening up about 20 feet, I better make sure that I step to the right to avoid twisting an ankle. When I go past that brush I want to make sure I do not scrape past it as there might be ticks on the branches. Oh there is a red ant hill over there to the left, they do sting so I probably should avoid that. What was that sound I heard, sounded like a buzzing noise, was it a dangerous bug? I am getting a little warm, should drink fluids out here in the desert, I wonder if I have enough water for my hike today. That abandoned adobe facility I see about 400 yards on the far left of the trail has graffiti all over it, I need to be alert to the presence of other humans, they could be dangerous out here with me alone.
Of course there are other stimuli that will draw attention. Something pretty, something interesting, something you have not see before, a recognizable pattern that does not match the environment. We have other instincts that help us filter the known universe. However, the fear part is the most dominate by far.
Be careful. Do not mistake this amygdala as you. It is the primal part of your body. It is a vital function that is automatic, just like breathing. It functions the exact same way your heart does. It just works and performs its function. It is not what you would consider you. I suppose the frontal lobe of the cerebrum contains the conscious part or the “mind.” Your soul is the absolute embodiment and personalization of this area of your brain and it is ultimately in charge of the body. My advice – learn to recognize this function of fear. Understand what it is. It is a separate part of your body providing you with data to respond to.
It is not you. I have heard people say – oh that is just me, I am afraid of snakes. That is the way I am, I dont do well on planes. I dont do public speaking. I am just not the kind of person that enjoys the outdoors, it is too dangerous. You are basically saying – my amygdala provides me with a stimulus that something might be dangerous and I really listen to it, I believe that stimulus to be the absolute truth and therefore I will avoid circumstances in which I get that stimulus. A few things happen to people that are not able to separate the mind from the primal impulses of the amygdala.
First they develop unreasonable phobias. They actually believe this stimuli is part of themselves and they have learned to accept that stimuli so much that their initial reaction is always to avoid at all costs. The fear of snakes for example, they will constantly be looking for snakes. They will not even know they are doing it – but they will have this thought process coming from their amygdala that indicates that every potential bush, rock, hole in the ground, pile of debris has a snake in it. They will avoid this because the automatically react the to stimuli without any restraint. Second is that they over react to the fear.
This is the part I want to consider in my life. Am I over reacting to a primal instinct that used to serve a very important purpose but now is no longer that big of a deal? For example, interactions with other animals, humans included is a very hyper sensitive thing for the amygdala. Giant alarm bells go off when someone looks at you mean, talks negative to you, threatens you, attempts to take things from you or even tries to touch you in any way. You are generally afraid of people, everyone is. Most of us develop a separation. We recognize the input, and we quickly tell the amygdala “thanks for the input primal me, but clearly this person is not actually going to kill me, they are just talking to me.”
I work with a lot of sales people. They all have this intense battle of fear going on inside. The fear of rejection by others is always a major obstacle. It is a human instinct, everyone has it. They are lying if they say otherwise. Good sales people recognize that asking for someone else’s time to talk about what you can sell them does set up the potential for rejection – but it does not mean you are going to die or get personally injured. We listen to the amygdala, which was designed that way to avoid death and injury and we apply that to our interaction. We are over reacting to the primal instinct if we avoid interactions due to the possibility of rejection.
For most of human existence, encountering strangers was a very dangerous proposition. Depending on the circumstances, that is probably true today as well. However, for the most part walking in a grocery store and standing next to a stranger in the check out line is not inherently dangerous. You do not listen to that stimuli, although it is still there. If an obvious gang member would be standing next to you in that line – your alarm bells would be firing off and you would be paying attention. I can promise you that talking to someone in the business world about buying your products and or services is not going to hurt you – you might be paying a little too much attention to your over active amygdala.
React appropriately. Your fear can and does control you if you do not keep it in check. When you have a strong emotion, that is good. Most the time strong emotion is rooted in appropriate stimuli and appropriate reaction. However, many many times it is not. It is so hard to accept this fact if you have learned to believe the amygdala is always right. You will accept something as absolute truth. You will absolutely believe that person is out to get you, and every input from the amygdala will be further evidence. This is so hard to overcome if you have learned to believe this. However, you can overcome. The first step is to recognize where fear is actually coming from and put it in its place.
Guy Reams (210)
365 Member
