Fear of the unknown: how to avoid being paralyzed by it

The influence of fear can saturate many people and leave them discouraged.

Fear is one of the most basic human emotions. Associated with the survival instinct, it has accompanied man for centuries to warn him of the dangers of the world around him. It is a primary emotion derived from the natural aversion to threat, and all animals possess it.

But what happens when instinctive dangers such as being devoured by a lion disappear in a developed society? Today we explain what fear of the unknown is, and how to avoid being affected by it.and how to avoid being negatively affected by it.

Fear invents its own dangers to keep on functioning

Most of the fears we have in our society are neurotic fears, i.e., fears based on the fear of the unknown.that is to say, fears based on mental constructs and not on real threats. Fears for what might happen, not for what is actually happening.

It is not in vain that people spend most of our lives suffering for things that will never happen to us.

Neurotic fear puts us on alert continuously and makes us live overextended, depriving us of the enrichments that the unknown can provide us.

And the fact is that most people have an unjustified fear of what we do not know.. We anticipate events and avoid new situations that we believe we will not be able to manage or solve.

Why does fear of the unknown appear?

This fear is mostly learned. The child, when he begins to walk, has the instinct to explore and to continuously perform different tasks in order to discover the world around him.

And it is there where adults, in their eagerness to protect them, inoculate them with an infinite number of fears that will surely accompany them for most of their lives. "Don't talk to strangers", "don't open the door to strangers", "don't climb up there or you'll fall", "don't let go of my hand or you'll get lost", "don't go far away or you might be kidnapped" and a long list of other prohibitions that make the child explorer feel that he or she is not allowed to go to school. a long etcetera of prohibitions that turn the explorer child into a child fearful of the world, who will reduce his area of influence.This will reduce his area of interaction until he reaches the adult stage, where he will have already consolidated his comfort zone.

Safe or comfort zone

There has been much talk in recent years about the "comfort zone", defined as that vital area known by the person, which does not always have to be comfortable, but which predictable and allows the brain to function on autopilot within it.. I say it is not comfortable because the comfort zone for someone can be a toxic relationship, a boring and poorly paid job or a sedentary life.

It is very likely that people show discomfort within this zone, yet they dare not leave it.

Why do people not leave their safe zone?

Lack of confidence in their own abilities. Some people do not see themselves with enough resources to face unknown situations, so they prefer to stay in the "safe", in the predictable, in that place they see themselves capable of handling or controlling.

As they learned as children, it is better to avoid the unknown "just in case".

So why is it advisable to get out of the comfort zone?

It's the only way to acquire new knowledge and skills.. Doing different things or going to new places is likely to be a bit uncomfortable at first. Like when you dive into the pool for the first time to learn how to swim. Yet it is the only place where new things happen. It's the way to expand the world and become self-realized.

How do you start getting out into the learning zone?

Experiment. "Do something every day that scares you." It is advisable to stop living so much in the world of thought and move into the world of action, which is where things really happen.

It's not about losing your fear, it's about doing things in spite of your fear.. Not letting fear take the reins of decisions, without losing sight of the fact that the comfort zone is a state of mind, and not an actual terrain.

"Everything you want in life is outside your comfort zone".