On Fear

 On Fear

(SOC MORTEJO OC-2397 PA)

O

ne thing that we know is that, we, human beings, are both similar to and different from animals. We are similar to them in that we experience sensations, including fear, and respond to them. We are different from them, however, in that we are capable to reason, to understand, and to act with free will – an act unique to man alone.

Fear is an emotional response to threats and danger. It is an experience that, if felt, can certainly affect human acts. It is an apprehension of an upcoming evil and is certainly one of the hard-to-overcome passions, especially when you are in a situation where your life is threatened. In such case, fear can be too powerful that it can cause a person to do what he/she would not do otherwise.

I think fear is the modifier or passion that is very difficult to overcome because among the other passions it is that which causes a person to act in a certain way which may be in opposition to that which he/she initially willed to act. According to the ethical principle on fear, an act done from fear, however great, is simply voluntary, although it is regularly also conditionally involuntary.

Upon writing this essay, I can’t help myself but to recall the unfortunate incident that I experienced just last January 2010 – I was robbed by two male teenagers on my way home. One of them pointed a knife at me and asked for my cell phone. That very moment I felt so much fear. I feared that I will be stabbed by those robbers or something else more unfortunate might happen to me. I then decided to hand the cell phone although handing it to them was not an assurance that I won’t get stabbed afterwards. I chose to give the cell phone over getting stabbed because I was thinking that in that situation it was the best thing to do. All I was thinking about that certain moment was to get out of that situation and save my precious life, and I did.

Days after that unfortunate incident, I still feel a certain distress or uneasiness inside. I think this is one of the reasons why it is very hard to overcome fear – it haunts you even after the experience. A person should find the confidence that she has before so that the feeling of uneasiness brought by fear would go away and obviously it takes a very strong-willed person to do that. When incidents like that happen it is not getting over the experience that most people find it hard to do but it is getting over the fear that was brought by the experience which is difficult to do.

Wanting and willing to overcome fear is a choice anyone would like to have. But there are certain instances in which no matter how willing you are to overcome fear it just can’t be done instantly. Forcing yourself to act like you have gotten over it will just worsen the situation. Again, fear is a feeling, like reason, it is part of being human. It involves emotions; that also explains why it is hard to overcome. One must understand that overcoming fear, or any emotion, involves a process. And certainly, it does not only require a strong will but also self-awareness, faith in yourself and in God’s guidance, and the aid of time. I think the best thing to do is not to will to overcome that fear right away but to be able to be willing to endure the process of overcoming fear.

SOC MORTEJO is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Psychology

at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan.