"The only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet." – Nadia Comaneci, Gymnast

Fear is caused by our perception of something as a threat to us. Some fears are a threat to our physical existence - such as being mugged or in a car accident. Most fears in our lives are a perception that is mental in nature. Fear of speaking in public, of looking foolish, of saying the wrong thing. When fear is not directly related to survival instinct, it is a fear that can be controlled with the proper thinking. Irrational fears are just that - irrational. That doesn't make them any less real, however. When you find yourself in fear of something, take a step back from yourself and try to determine what is causing it. I recently have discovered that I have a fear of other people's opinions of my work. I never realized how deep this programming went until just recently. Now that I have recognized this fear, I am working to eliminate it from my existence. It is the one major flaw in my thinking that has been holding me back from a tidal wave of success. May you find the source of your fear and "trample it under foot!"

Question, How does one trample fear beneath ones feet? If the story of Adam and Eve is true then we must conclude that fear became a part of human nature when God threw them out of the Garden. You will remember hat they tried to hide themselves when God was calling them. Trampling fear beneath ones feet is a bad idea. Trying doing that if ever you came face to face with a lion or tiger. Knowing ones self as a means for overcoming fear does not work. All the great singers and orators will tell you that in the initial stage of their performance there is a measure of fear. As a matter of fact knowing ones self may may even make one more fearful. Rudolph

Rudolph, fear is a state of mind. The better you know yourself, the more control you have over your mind and the less effect fear has in your existence. People with a positive self-image and an identified primary purpose in life feel "ten feet tall and bulletproof." I know quite a few of these individuals, and they are teaching me how to discover myself so that I can do the same.

Esther and Rudolph, As you wrote Esther we learn the fear. What this means is that we can unlearn it if we know how. Last week I went over the process of creating emotions in my life which were meant to teach me how to be happy when I want to be happy and how to be angry when I want to be angry. In short how to choose my emotions. One of the exercises was to face the fear of heights, (which almost anyone has) and connect it to other fears we have. Look at this link. http://www.adlandpro.com/fear/fear_factor.htm The person stands about 35 feet high and then jumps. You are totally safe. Before you jump you think about some other fear which you want to get rid of. You scream loud so everyone can hear you. Believe me you have no problems screaming up there. There were about 65 people that day and all did it. My biggest fear WAS fear of public speaking. This is what I screamed. I GIVE UP FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING. The same day I was talking in front of all this people and I didn't feel usual freezing in my body. I don't feel I'm cured already but I feel I can do it the same way as I jumped from this poll even though I was scared. I wouldn't be scared anymore jumping from there. I'm taking classes in public speaking where I can practice it more often. I'm facing it the same way as I jumped. In my view this is what Nadia calls "to trample it beneath your feet." I would call it "Face it" Bogdan