Fear

Are you waiting for fear to motivate you to make important decisions?

Let’s, look at what others are saying about fear?

According to Psychology Today, Fear is an emotion which is induced by a perceived threat of someone or something being dangerous. It is also believed to be a protective emotion that urges us to either confront the danger or escape from it (the “fight or flight response”). But in severe or extreme cases, when we are in a harrowing, or a freezing situation it is also possible for fear to have a “paralyzing” effect.

"Don't fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine.” Isaiah 43:1

According to the Bible, in 2 Timothy 1:7, fear is to be rejected because it doesn’t come from God. The Bible also says, in Isaiah 43:1 “Don't fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine.” God commands us not to fear or worry. The phrase “fear not” is used at least 80 times in the Bible, most likely because God knows that fear can stagnate and even paralyze our hopes and dreams!

According to the website, “How Stuff Works,” fear produces and releases hormones in our bodies that provides an unfavorable physical response:

The pituitary gland (a major endocrine gland) secretes the hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone). ACTH moves through the bloodstream and ultimately arrives at the adrenal cortex, where it activates the release of approximately 30 different hormones that get the body prepared to deal with a threat.

The sudden flood of epinephrine, norepinephrine and dozens of other hormones causes changes in the body that include:

• Heart rate and blood pressure increase;

• Pupils dilate to take in as much light as possible;

• veins in skin constrict to send more blood to major muscle groups (responsible for the "chill" sometimes associated with fear -- less blood in the skin to keep it warm);

• Blood-glucose level increases;

• Muscles tense up, energized by adrenaline and glucose (responsible for goose bumps -- when tiny muscles attached to each hair on surface of skin tense up, the hairs are forced upright, pulling skin with them);

• Smooth muscle relaxes in order to allow more oxygen into the lungs;

• Nonessential systems (like digestion and immune system) shut down to allow more energy for emergency functions; and also

• Trouble focusing on small tasks (brain is directed to focus only on big picture to determine where threat is coming from)

­All of these physical responses are intended to help you survive a dangerous situation by preparing you to either run for your life or fight for your life (thus the term "fight or flight"). “Fear” and the “fight or flight response”, in particular, are instincts that every animal possesses.

With that being said, the question then becomes -- If fear promotes health issues, paralysis and stagnation, then what should we do when fear is manifested in our lives?

In my research, I learned about the amazing role of the brain when it comes to giving instructions. Anthony Robbins, author and life coach, recommends the Rapid Response System when it comes to getting things done. In this system he explains how the brain is like a computer that follows your thought commands. Whatever we put in our brain is what the brain will put out. He supposes that our focus should be more outcome driven because once the brain knows the result you’re after, it locks onto it and like a computer begins to provide your mind with ways to accomplish that result. I must say, it works. I tried it. I told my brain, I would like to lose weight and I would like to have fun doing it. It was amazing when I began to get thoughts about visiting YouTube videos about lessons on dancing. I love to dance! It doesn’t stop there, however, because next I had to learn about why am I overeating? Because even if I worked out through dance, I still had the problem of being an over-eater and the Bible tells us to do all things in moderation. Therefore, I must address my “reason why” for overeating in order to lessen the likelihood of continuing down this destructive path.

This is where Olympia LePoint, Rocket Scientist, Author and TV host comes in, she says there are three ways to deal with fear (see list below).

Olympia LePoint’s three steps methods to overcoming fear:

Reprogramming Your Brain in three steps:

1- Name And Reject The Fear! For example, Olympia LePoint overcame her fear of math during a tutoring session with a math instructor. Although she previously flunked Geometry, Algebra, got a D in Calculus and lived a life of poverty Olympia had a dream of one day becoming a Rocket Scientist. It was through this math instructor who offered tutoring after school that Olympia began to catch on to math, and despite her previous failures , she decided that she could learn math and she decided to reject her fear of math.

2- Reprogram Your Brain With Different Thoughts: Our brains are like a computer- it must be reprogrammed to get viruses out. What we must do is take the virus out called “fear”. Olympia LePoint became that Rocket Scientist, however, when she began her job she recognized that she was the youngest employee, in a male dominated community, and, to make matters worse, she didn’t understand any of the language of the field. However, then she realized that she was educated, she was qualified and she would work hard at everything she did. Olympia said to herself, “I may not be able to make a significant difference now in this field but one day I will!” She literally told herself that she was going to make a difference. She then found herself a mentor to teach her everything about the space shuttle engine.

3- You Must Rebuild The Neurons In Your Brain By Taking Action: Our brains are exercised when we act and stand in direct opposition to our fear. As an example, Olympia learned about the term Math phobia which is a severe fear that happens in the reptilian part of the brain that shuts off the frontal brain lobe surrendering someone completely paralyzed when it comes to problem solving. But when we act and stand in the direct opposite to our fear something amazing happens -- neuron transmitters are created and built within our brain and turn off our fear response creating pathways to fire off our frontal brain lobes. When our frontal brain lobes are fired off, we can do great things which allows us to be creative and to create opportunities. There is now life energy flowing where there was once stagnation and paralysis!

So, in this article, we have discovered that fear should not be our motivating factor. Fear causes health issues, it stagnates or even paralyzes us in our endeavors in life.

We also learned how to confront our fears and how to get our brain to operate on an outcome basis. I hope you guys were informed and most importantly inspired to move forward in the things God has called you to do!!

God bless you all,

Dr. Bernadette Camp

References:

Julia Layton "How Fear Works" 13 September 2005. HowStuffWorks.com. <https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/fear.htm> 13 September 2018

Lepointe, Olympia {TEDx}. (2014). Reprogramming our brain to overcome fear {video file}. retrieved from https://youtu.be/1PV7Hy_8fhA

Robbins, Anthony {Amy R. Myer}. Most powerful tool of Rapid Planning Method {video file}. retrieved from https://youtu.be/mZDDYgi0AU