Fear (Human Factors) — YouTube from the CEC Library

Let us talk about fear. My father, who took part in World War II, experienced situations of extreme fear and taught me some valuable lessons. When I was a child, I witnessed a situation in which someone acted cowardly. I asked my father why that person had backed down so noticeably. He replied, "A coward dies a hundred times before dying." That sentence had a profound impact on me because fear is a very harmful element in our lives.

We live in fear of everything around us, always trying to protect ourselves from suffering that often does not even exist. Most of our suffering is emotional: we run away from situations, do not commit ourselves, do not take a stand, and are not honest, either with others or with ourselves. This is extremely harmful. A small event rooted in fear can become something terrible, magnified by our emotional content. We have a tendency to dwell more easily on negative aspects than on positive ones, which helps us observe ourselves and even grow a little.

Fear causes inner disorganization. A single word is enough for this disorganization to expand. One example is fear of the dark: when we have company, the other person's presence serves as a reference point, but when we are alone, our imagination creates negative scenarios. When we lie down alone after watching horror movies, the imagination leads us into endless negative associations that can culminate in panic.

Our life is often dominated by fear, which generates constant threats. Fear is the origin of all the pathologies that hinder us. We cannot live in the present because we are always where fear is, never where we should be: conscious and focused. During conversations, our inner dialogue distracts us, preventing a genuine exchange. We want to hear only what confirms our beliefs, and this distances us from genuine communication. Fear is not the best path. To grow and be happy, we should expand the positive just as we do fear. The path of fear does not lead us anywhere, but the positive reorganizes us and illuminates our relationships. This is a path worth following.