Have you ever asked yourself:
What am I afraid of?
Probably not very often.
Most of us would rather not ask!
We’re too afraid of the answer. 🙂
Yes, the answer itself scares us.
So, instead of exploring our vulnerabilities
we simply pretend that whatever we fear doesn’t even exist!!!
Ya gotta admit, it is a master stroke.
The psychological term for pulling off
this impressive magic trick is: we are in denial.
Not scared of a dang thing.
We are right up there with MAD Magazine’s What, Me Worry? Kid.
Ah, denial feels wonderful!
But alas,
being in blissful denial may buffer us from painful fear,
but it does nothing to help us face and deal with it.
An example of fear in women
Suppose a woman is afraid of breast cancer.
She has friends or relatives who have died of it,
but finds the fear so painful that she puts
the whole subject totally out of her mind.
She does not do monthly breast exams
due to her underlying terror of finding something
This woman is living in denial.
She is buffered from a painful fear,
but unprotected from the danger itself.
An example of fear in men
Suppose a man is afraid of prostate cancer.
He has friends or relatives who have died of it,
but finds the fear so painful that he puts
the whole subject totally out of his mind.
He does not go to the doctor for regular PSA tests
due to his underlying terror of getting a bad result.
This man is living in denial.
He is buffered from a painful fear,
but unprotected from the danger itself.
A better way
There is a better and far more self-protective way
of dealing with fear than living in denial.
I call it: divide and conquer.
I would love to teach you how to do it.
If you will summon the courage to ask yourself:
What am I afraid of?
and write down your honest answers,
I will show you how you can divide and conquer your fears.
Are you willing to learn?
I don’t promise your fears will disappear,
but I do promise they will have less power over you
than they do now.
Let’s DO this.
Just click on my post: How do I get free of fear?
and I’ll see you there!
Dr. Hall