“Don’t get into the train from there; it will not stop for long.” “Don’t wash your hair after seven in the evening; you might contract a cold which will never leave you.” Well, well, well, how many times we internalise someone else’s fear and allow it to play on our waking hours. It’s strange to think that the thoughts that have not even remotely crossed our minds suddenly become prominent and affect our thinking patterns.
Fear has the remarkable ability to control our decisions and hold sway over us. Allowing fear to overpower our thoughts often give rise to a string of fears which attach themselves to the main fear. For example, taking the train instance from the first line, the fear of losing the train followed by the fear of losing money and then not getting to the stipulated place at the right time and etc, etc.
Observing this pattern of fear getting a grip on our psyche is a slightly difficult thing to do when we are wallowing in that emotion. At that particular instance, stepping away from the situation puts things in perspective. But somehow one cannot philosophise while undergoing the twin tensions of fear and its various effects.
I try to remain calm and try to have an objective perspective to the pressure of fear BUT my purpose gets defeated when an external force like x, y or z kindle the fire of fear and leave me all fuelled up.
I realise my inadequacies as a human and allow fear to take over me and challenge my ‘trying-to-be-calm’ attitude. The fear that was previously unknown to me slowly becomes MINE own. I don’t leave it at that. I pass on this fear to various scapegoats that cross my path. The fear is passed on . . .
As I write this post, I wonder how many innocent relatives/friends who were oblivious of any fear have contracted it from me. The fear continues . . .
I think it’s high time I stop giving in to someone else’s fear and internalising it.