Definition of Fear

Fear

Fear is one of the most intense, overwhelming emotions a living organism can feel. Fear is like a disease embedded in the Earth that can strike at anytime. Everyone at some point and time has felt fear. They have felt the adrenaline pumping rapidly through their veins, while perspiration drains down their face as the mind runs wild trying to figure out the situation. Fear, also is one of the hardest emotions to overcome. The feeling of fear lingers within you for seconds, but it feels like months. As Winston Churchill once said, “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” This famous quote shows that fear affects people only as much as they let it affect them. According to the Oxford Dictionary, fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. Fear essentially is inescapable. Especially as humans we fear many things: death, disease, commitment, pain, old age, responsibility, and even being too fat or too skinny. There are two ways with coping with our fears: we can avoid them or we can overcome them. Either way fear will always be around. The word fear originated before the twelfth century from the word faer meaning danger, sudden calamity. Over the years the meaning of fear hasn’t changed much. Now, it’s just used as a common emotion produced by the brain to avoid anxiety caused by the presence of danger. Although fear has a negative image it can still be used for wise decisions. Fear can help us decide where to live, how to raise children, what to do with our money, and even what car to buy. The fear of being overweight helps us decide what to eat and how much. Fear has been important in many events from both the real world, and works of literature. For example, the play Macbeth used fear as a motivating factor for many of the characters actions. Macbeth was fearful of being caught after murdering King Duncan. That’s why he was afraid to put the daggers back away, which led to the death of the bodyguards. Also, Lady Macbeth was plagued with fear after the death of King Duncan. She was constantly washing her hands, even when nothing was there, and sleepwalking all through the night. The fear embedded in her eventually brought her to commit suicide. As you can see, Fear is a very influential and powerful emotion. It affects even the toughest people in the world, but everyone handles being afraid differently. Like I said before, fear only gets to you as much as you let it. Don’t let fear drive you away from achieving your dreams. Fear is just an emotion and you can overcome it.