Attitudes that express fear are worth paying attention to when taken to the extreme.
Last update: July 23, 2020
Fear is an emotion with a thousand faces. It doesn't always appear as it is due to a kind of "fear of fear". It hurts us to admit that we are afraid because we think that doing so would end up increasing this feeling. Here because we adopt attitudes that express fear although the attempt is just the opposite.
Some attitudes would not seem to reflect fear, but in fact they are children of it. Behaving this way is tantamount to wearing a dignified mask, but it can prevent us from living fully and authentically.
Fear, like other emotions, is overcome by starting to take note of its existence. There are those, however, who are not willing to take this step: recognizing fear would be tantamount to admitting their weakness. We do not like to see ourselves in this way or to show ourselves vulnerable in the eyes of others. This is why we sometimes react with diversions which, in the end, reflect great fear.
Posing hard and invulnerable doesn't help. On the contrary, it leads fear to take on more sophisticated and underground forms. This prevents us from identifying them for what they are and working with them. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to attitudes that express fear because they are taken to the extreme. Let's see seven.
"Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our fears."
-Rudyard Kipling-
Attitudes that express fear
1. Anxiety to plan
Planning is, of course, a healthy strategy that helps us organize ideas, save energy and prevent problems. In principle it is the right way to put some limits on the uncertainty and act with greater certainty.
But when it is taken to the extreme, it becomes one of the attitudes that express fear. Wanting to plan everything is no longer the desire to organize better, but the anxiety of control. One of the masks of fear.
2. Flawless ways
Good manners are the visiting card of education and facilitate social relations a lot. Courtesy is never out of place and following protocol is a good way to "break the ice". Communication becomes more fluid and relationships more friendly.
However, when good manners become excessive, to the point of being set or robotic, some of their effect is lost. It is possible that the fear of others is so strong that it leads us to protect ourselves and show how harmless we are.
3. Extreme caution
It is similar to excessive planning; in this case, however, it does not refer only to future actions, but also to present ones. This attitude leads us to always doubt before acting.
Doubt, in turn, forces us to evaluate a series of negative consequences. The result is that we become so cautious that we barely move. It is one of the faces of fear that causes exasperated passivity and inactivity.
4. Fear of novelty
Everyone is a little scared by the unknown. We ignore if what we do not know hides risks; we also do not know if our personal resources will be sufficient to avoid or manage possible threats.
We must use a small, or large, dose of courage to face the news. Thus, when we allow ourselves to be invaded by fear, we end up settling on the comfort of known things. One of the main risks of this attitude is missing out on many opportunities.
5. Ritualization of life
Similar to the previous points, a rigid routine is not meant to make living in a more organized way, but to keep everything under control. If someone questions our behavior, we justify ourselves by saying that we are disciplined and that we don't like being caught off guard.
The truth is that this is another of the attitudes that express fear. Rigid habits limit the unexpected, but that doesn't mean they eliminate them. Rather, they help to schematize our life and prevent it from being altered.
6. Refusal of the different
When you have too rigid habits of life, you end up acquiring rigid thought patterns. This sometimes makes us intolerant of other lifestyles or values ​​that are unfamiliar to us.
In these conditions it is easy to be guided by prejudices. We are afraid of situations or people other than us. We perceive them as a threat to our apparent stability. After all, it is nothing more than fear of having to revise a good part of our schemes.
7. Discredit others
Fear also hides through attitudes such as envy or excessive criticism of others. We can come to feel, without reason, that people question who we are. Their diversity becomes a testing ground for us.
On the other hand, it is not uncommon for what we criticize in others to be a projection of our limitations and fears. We compare ourselves, in a more or less unconscious way, to the people around us and try to defend ourselves from their judgment. We end up noting only the worst in others as a form of justification.
Attitudes that hide fear eventually become a way to mask it. Perhaps if we were more honest with ourselves, we could set a path that helps us work on these fears and, why not, overcome them.
