Fear Of Consequence
If you let fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct, then your life will be safe, expedient and thin. — Katharine Butler Hathaway
The implication here is that fear of consequence is pretty normal; so having some, or maybe even a lot, isnt that much of a big deal. The big deal is having a life that is safe, expedient, and thin. What the problem with this actually is remains hidden; so you are simply expected to intuit it, it seems. The rub is that you have little faith in your abilities and less faith in your basic grasp or understanding of situations or circumstances. Since you dont believe that you can trust your judgment or instinct, you dont take a chance on yourself. You likewise dont have much faith in your ability to anticipate or predict the behavior of other people. Your belief is that you cannot predict if a specific action of yours will lead to good or bad outcomes. Usually, you think the likely outcome of following your judgment will be bad. You dont trust yourself and feel that any errors or mistakes you might make will likely be just another example of your screwing up. Given that reality, a life that is safe, expedient, and thin sounds like a reasonable alternative. There is a potential glitch in going with the safe alternative, though. Brooke Foss Westcott described it this way, “Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or we grow weak, and at last some crisis shows us what we have become.” Fortunately, Eleanor Roosevelt suggested another alternative that you may want to consider. “I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experiences behind him.”
Sure, conquering fear sounds good in theory; but its certainly easier said than done. As you weigh your choices, Glenn Turners point deserves your attention, “Worrying is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.” Ruth Gordon also joined the fear fighters, “Courage is like a muscle; it is strengthened by use;” and as you might have expected, the famous Anon. added a tidbit as well, “The mighty oak was once a little nut that stood its ground.”
Since the Fear vs. Safe debate cant be resolved here, another thought or two will be enough for now. Haddon W. Robinson said, “What worries you, masters you;” and Roger Babson said, If things go wrong, don’t go with them. There you go. Do what you need to do, when you need to do it; and while youre at it, adopt the Charlie Brown philosophy for fear management, I’ve developed a new philosophy I only dread one day at a time.
