ScaredyCatGuide Asks - Where Does Your Fear Come From?

The two strongest human emotions are fear and greed, with fear being the most dominant. Many studies have shown the fear of loss is much stronger than the greed of gain.

However, some people have fear weigh on them much more than others. They are bigger scaredycats if you will.

(credit @kyriacos for the original pic)

The Question Is - Where Did This Fear Come From?

I cannot answer this question for you, but what I can do is share my story and how it led to a mindset of being afraid in life.

Growing Up in a Fear Based Household

My family was (and still are) a bunch of worriers. I never realized it as a kid, being how would I have known any better? As I came into my adult life and began to build my own beliefs that contrasted with what I'd known; I then realized that my family worried about way to much, they worried about all the "what if" scenarios that seem to only actually happen maybe 5% of the time.

The Light Bulb Moment

image credit

At 18 years old I was working a full-time job and going to college at night. Unfortunately my car broke down and needed major work I did not have the money upfront for.

My grandparents had a second car they really didn't use much. It was this old school 76 Ford Granada in this sky metallic like blue. It had old man written all over it and was an absolute tank as most cars were back then.

They were kind of enough to let me use it for a few weeks while I collected a few more pay checks to pay for my car repairs.

I will never forget what my grandmother said to me when she handed me the keys.

Her voice sounded filled with fear when uttered the words:

"Please be careful, they will take everything from us"

Wait - What?

Who exactly is they? How will they take everything?

I remember driving so carefully scared in that car the first couple days, because really, I didn't know then things I'd realize in the coming years.

My View Now

When I think of my grandma's statement now, the thoughts in my head are different.

The first one being - we have insurance on the car, right? No one is going to take everything because the insurer would be paying out the claim. They are going to take a deductible from us.

The second - OK, let's say the nightmare scenario happens. If I'd caused a 20 care pile up with several fatalities; that would probably be a situation where affected parties come after personal assets as insurance would not be enough.

However, how many accidents are there like that in an entire year throughout the US? Its not a large number and then it has to be you in it. The odds are about the same as hitting the lottery.

Realization

That experience made me realize that I too, was always worrying about the worst case "what ifs" in just about everything I did. Honestly, it has a paralyzing affect on you. Pulling the trigger on anything that has risk to it becomes very difficult.

Here's the thing though: You have to take some risk in life if you want to attain anything.

The reality is we take risks everyday that are not perceived as risks. Just walking across the street in a busy intersection is probably more dangerous (especially here in South FL where stopping for pedestrians seems optional) than flying in a plane. The latter is considered more risky though, because that is the belief that has been instilled.

In Conclusion

I love my grandma, she's thankfully still alive and kicking. However, I am glad I do not have her overly fear-based outlook any longer. Yes, deep down I'm still a scaredycat but I do not let it completely guide my life (see what I did there? lol).

So again, Where Does Your Fear Come From?

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Thanks for reading!