My silliest irrational fear in life...
Every day when I wake up, I have my routine. I meditate for 10 to 15 minutes to center myself. Then I open my laptop to check my emails and work on some things. At around 7 am, I head downstairs to eat breakfast. After which I'd go to take a bath to prepare for work. What is not part of my routine however, is what awaited me inside the bathroom this morning.
When I went inside, I noticed something unusual. There was a squeaking sound just underneath the toilet. If memory serves, It didn't take me a second to figure out what it was — a mouse is in my presence. I bolted the bathroom immediately faster than you can say "Bingo!" at a bingo club and I stayed outside for close to 15 minutes in hopes that the mouse will leave.
When I came back, relief quickly washed over me when I realized the mouse is not in the bathroom anymore and I then proceeded to take my bath. Looking back now as I'm writing this piece, I realized it was rather silly of me to be so afraid of that tiny little mouse. I acted out of fear even though I know that mouse can never hurt me in any way. I also realized my thoughts and actions were driven by one thing— my irrational fear.
You see, I have an irrational fear of mice. Ever since I was a kid, whenever I would see a mouse running around, I get really scared and run the other direction. I don't know why but they sure scare the heck out of me. I have other fears too growing up. Like whenever my family would drive somewhere and we would cross a bridge, I get really anxious and I would have these weird imaginations that the bridge might collapse just as our car is crossing it and we'd all die. Or when I would ride an elevator and I get really scared that it might get stuck and I'd be left inside all alone.
But most of those irrational fears, over the years I've come to outgrow them. But my irrational fear of mice? Let's just say it's as persistent as that annoying salesman who keeps on bugging you to buy his unappealing hair products. I know my fear of mice sounds silly, but I bet you have some irrational fears in your life that maybe you're not even aware have affected the way you live too one way or another. Although it may be on a grander scale.
Like that fear you have of public speaking.
Or that fear of failure when it comes to chasing after your dreams.
Or that fear of rejection you have when it comes to courting someone.
You see, we all have them. We all have different fears in our lives. Irrational or not, we all have them. They say that the best way to conquer your fear is to face it. And I believe that. Some say it's best to reflect and to question one's mind as to why they fear a certain thing or event in the first place. I believe that too.
But how does one get rid of say, in my case, a fear of mice? I've tried reasoning with myself but it never works. I've tried exposing myself to them but it only increased my anxiety. Maybe there is a better way to deal with this.
So I urge you, my dear readers to share with me your tips on how you deal or dealt with your irrational fears in life. It is highly appreciated.
Do you also have some irrational fears that you're struggling to get rid of? If so, can you share them with me?
I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
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I just learned a tool to help with fear from modernmasters.org This is paraphrasing so I hope it helps. Find an object some distance, a few miles from your home if possible, that represents your fear. Something that you can hold and bring with you. Perhaps it is sharp or hard, or something that represents how your fear makes you feel.
Bring it home and put it somewhere in sight so that you can think about it when you pass by it. Then move it around from time to time, up high, down low, hidden from view. See how you feel with it in different locations, and begin to realize that it is up to you where the fear lives, not up to the fear.
so.. that's as far as I got and I am still working on the next part of this lesson... it's already helped me with my biggest fear to realize that it doesn't have to control me. Looking forward to the next part and I can update you if you want.
great advice bro! yeah i also believe that constantly being exposed to your fears and interacting with them often helps to get rid of them. and yes its really up to us if we let our fear control our lives or we face it head on and get our life back. i would love to hear some updates from your progress with this tool bro.
I went to the next step in the lesson on fear. Again this is paraphrasing a lot of words into a small space. Choose from fire, water, air, earth which element represents your fear based on how your fear makes you feel. It could feel like burning, suffocating, drowning etc. When you picked your element recognize that in the balance every element has properties that are both healing/soothing and harming. For example warm fire, soothing water, etc. Think about how the fear makes you feel in context of the element then decide if you want help from the same element or another element. Another element could help reverse the feeling of your fear, like fire dehydrating the water that is drowning you. Or the same element could help you find the balance. Then take some time to sit with your element, either light a candle, get some container of water or earth, etc. Take some time to think about how it feels and call on the element of your choice to help you and imagine the feeling of that element helping to remove the fear. Then in the future you can call on this element to help bring you peace and remove the negative feelings of the fear. Spend some time meditating on this. Then come back to the object that you chose to represent your fear and decide if you want to keep it or not. Keeping it would be a reminder of gaining control over your fear. Parting with it would represent letting it go back to the universe now that it has served its purpose to help you gain control of your fear.
fascinating tip you shared bro! i havent tried this method yet but it sounds very interesting! :) and it makes sense too! hmm maybe i can try this method with my irrational fear of mice! appreciate it sooo much with the share bro!
You're welcome :)
I forgot to mention that in an earlier step you can choose to listen to your fear and try to abstract it to a larger fear that is more subtle and perhaps more elusive. Larger fears can be behind smaller fears from some time in the past.. And these tools can help overcome those as well.