9 Fundamentals About How Fear Affects Us - Jeanne Takenaka
Contents
Have you ever really considered how fear affects us?
Over the past number of months, I’ve had to accept the reality that, for most of my life, I’ve allowed fear to be the boss of me. Yes, I’m hanging my head a little at the admission. I’ve been a Jesus-girl since I was fourteen. You’d think decades of walking with Him would have cured me, right?
Ummm, nope.
Most of us have a basic understanding of the different kinds of fear. There’s a fear that comes because something threatens us. Usually this kicks our adrenaline into high-gear. Our breaths come short, our hearts pound hard, and our bodies are equipped to fight or flee. We need this kind of fear when we face dangerous situations.
Then there’s the kind of fear that I’m confessing to. It’s a long-term thing that grabs hold of us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and wreaks havoc.
9 Fundamentals About How Fear Affects Us—Then there’s the kind of fear that I’m confessing to. It’s a long-term thing that grabs hold of us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and wreaks havoc #tellhisstory #fear Click To Tweet
***Quick note: I’m not a licensed counselor. I’m sharing from a layperson’s perspective.
Understanding fear
Fear is normal. We’ll each face fear in our lives. It’s what we do with it that determines our outcomes.
Fear can keep us safe. In dangerous or new situations, a degree of fear is healthy. As our bodies react, we can prepare to flee or protect ourselves in the short-term.
Fear can be good, when it challenges us in a positive way. When we are afraid of trying something new (skydiving, anyone?), fear can be what prods us to accomplish said activity and then experience that sense of achievement.
Fear can be debilitating when it dictates our decision-making processes and perceptions. Allowing fear to determine our responses to life will cripple us if we don’t overcome it.
Causes of fear
Some personalities tend toward fearfulness. For others, fear drills in after traumatic or emotionally-impacting experiences. When I was a girl, my sensitive nature made me a great target for bullies. They said or did something hurtful, and I couldn’t stop the tears from coming. In self-preservation, I withdrew from my classmates.
In time, I learned how to function without being vulnerable. I became a people-pleaser in order to avoid being snubbed. This fear of rejection affected me into my forties.
People who’ve experienced trauma—whether from an event like a car crash or the loss of a loved one, or those who faced various kinds of abuse—may react in strong ways. They may seek to avoid certain people or situations out of the fear of re-experiencing pain they’ve known in the past.
Long-term fear affects our thoughts, our decisions, our heart, our perceptions. It’s so sneaky, we may not even realize its influence for years. Learning how fear affects us enables us to deal with it.
9 Fundamentals About How Fear Affects Us—Long-term fear affects our thoughts, our decisions, our heart, our perceptions. It’s so sneaky, we may not even realize its influence for years #tellhisstory #howfearaffectsus Click To Tweet
How fear affects us
Fear impacts each aspect of who we are.
Physically
Long-term fear affects our minds with brain fog. We may have difficulty processing information or remembering things. It impacts our hearts by increasing our blood pressure, causing chest pain and more. Fear affects us in other areas, like sleep, our digestive systems, and our immune systems.
Mentally
Fear causes us to feel stress. When we live with an underlying sense of uncertainty, we begin to see everything through that filter of fear. This steals our joy. If we live like this long enough, our emotions begin to shut down, and we physically feel the effects of long-term fear.
Emotionally
- Fear skews the way we perceive our relationships with others. Depending on what we’re afraid of, we may find it difficult to trust people with our hearts, thoughts, and feelings. When authenticity is missing in a relationship, it won’t go very deep or be satisfying.
- We may withdraw from people because we feel shame for having the fear we do or because we compare us at our worst with others at their best.
Spiritually
Fear affects so many areas of our spiritual life. It causes:
- Doubting of God
- Lack of peace
- We may try to control every facet of our lives rather than trust God when the unknowns come in
- Isolation from God and others
This is a limited list of how fear affects us. How do we deal with this nemesis? I’m not sure we can completely eliminate it from our lives. Rather, we learn how to overcome it.
Initial thoughts for dealing with fear
There are tons of articles available to read for ways to overcome our fear. Here are a few ideas that are frequently mentioned:
- Find ways to reduce stress
- Take care of ourselves by getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and exercising
- Self-care is a thing. It’s not sinful or selfish to give ourselves time to rest. This may look like doing something we enjoy (Reading? Hiking? Having coffee with a friend? Something else?).
- Spend time with family and friends
- Talk with someone about how we feel—a counselor or a trusted friend
- Pray and talk or journal with God about the fear. Be gut-level honest with Him. He can handle it.
Conclusion
The next few blogposts will unpack this concept more. This is important to me because it’s been a lifelong issue.
This is much easier said than done, isn’t it? We’re going to unpack that too.
I’m not allowing fear to boss me around anymore. I’m thankful our Father is always trustworthy and always loves us, even when we have trouble letting go of fear. He always protects us. He always walks with us through fearful situations, and He works healing in our lives. Let’s hold onto that truth.
What about you? What kinds of fears have you grappled with? As you consider how fear affects us all, how do you navigate through it?
Come share your story at the Tell His Story linkup. Connect and be encouraged by like-minded friends! #tellhisstory #linkup Click To Tweet
Most weeks, I link up with Grace and Truth, Anita Ojeda, Instaencouragements, and sometimes Let’s Have Coffee. Come join and read more encouraging posts!
Each week we gather here as storytellers, word weavers, and encouragers to make His name known. Our story is God’s story and this small corner of the blogging world, where we come together each Tuesday, needs you. This is a place where poetry, snapshots, prayers, and stories find a safe spot to nod in agreement that what we have to say matters. I am glad you are here and would love to have you join the #TellHisStory community. Add your own encouraging post through the link below. Spread some love by visiting your neighbor and leaving your own encouragement. Click here to read more about the #TellHisStory community and find a button to add to your site.
Each week we gather here as storytellers, word weavers, and encouragers to make His name known. Our story is God’s story and this small corner of the blogging world, where we come together each Tuesday, needs you. This is a place where poetry, snapshots, prayers, and stories find a safe spot to nod in agreement that what we have to say matters. I am glad you are here and would love to have you join the #TellHisStory community. Add your own encouraging post through the link below. Spread some love by visiting your neighbor and leaving your own encouragement. Click here to read more about the #TellHisStory community and find a button to add to your site.
