What fears have you overcome and how?
I am the one riddled with many. I thought I had succeeded in overcoming them but the fact remains I have not. Lately , I have succumbed to fear of inflicted as well as anticipated physical pain , like, cutting of sutures or stitches, forcible insertion of dyes and contrasts for body scan, surgical incisions, infections at the wound or dressing sites, and such others.
It’s fate that every time I grow nutritionally fitter I am felled down by a major surgery. The surgery itself is not so formidable an experience because, you know, it’s under general anaesthesia obliterating awareness of the process. It’s the post surgery recovery which is traumatic and always unsteady.
I wonder why I have become so cowardly given the fact that I have suffered physical pain, in some form or the other, throughout my life. At one point of time I used to believe that endurance has made me stronger, braver and tougher. Alas! I realise it has not.
I am given to analysing my reactions Why? Is it age? Is it bodily weakness? Is it that the memory of the past has become sharper that each time the surgeon’s forceps touch my skin I become super sensitive? He prepares me for the next onslaught. Makes me aware of the invariability of the scheme of things. I want that. Not knowing is more painful. The unexpectedness of everything!! But every time he counsels I tell myself “Don’t be scared…No..No…” He thinks I am a nervous wreck. I wish to tell him not to judge me by my weakest moments.
I guess when the ordeal is over I will tell myself, ” See. You passed with flying colours. It’s over. And you are still alive!!”
Till then this nightmarish battle with my own demons goes on. I have not overcome my fears. I am in the process of realising them. Each time it comes back with renewed vigour and unprecedented shades. Each time I try to fathom why I am still there to withstand it.
The pundits say that fear exists because of our deep attachment with our body. I tell myself I am not the body but only the consciousness of my physical presence. Does that heal ? Does that alleviate? Does that elevate me to a higher plane ?
Theoretically, yes. But not experientially. As I prepare myself for the next phase of hospitalization I shiver inside. It’s another cycle of agony which will conquer my soul deflating my spirit. Does courage mean complete eradication of fear from the mindscape or is it this tug of war between getting scared yet pulling on?
I have not found the answer …
Do you have one?
It seems to me that what you describe are reasonable fears.
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Thanks for the encouragement
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Fear doesn’t vanish—it evolves. Bravery isn’t about feeling fearless, but feeling everything and still enduring. Pain may return with new faces, but so does strength—quiet, persistent, unannounced. Endurance isn’t loud. It just survives.
And yes, you are passing with quiet, invisible flying colours. Every single time. 👍👍
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Thank you very much 🙏🙏
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Welcome, GC.
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Sounds like you have a rough road ahead of you. Wish you the best.
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Thank you 🙏🙏
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Perhaps it is all making you feel vulnerable. Sending a comforting hug your way.
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Your words resonate with such raw honesty and vulnerability. The battle with one’s own fears can feel like an endless cycle, where even the smallest victories seem fleeting. The fear still exists, and the courage doesn’t necessarily mean complete eradication of it—it might just mean enduring, despite it. Sometimes, the mere act of showing up—each time, even when we don’t feel ready—is a form of bravery in itself. I hope, when this phase is over, you’ll find peace in knowing that the fear didn’t break you; it only helped shape you into someone who’s learned to rise above it, one step at a time
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Thank you very much
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Beautifully written 👌I think at certain age it’s tough to ignore fear fully . Well shared
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Thank you 🙏
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Welcome.https://youtube.com/@pritilatanandi2010?si=DxRW3dGANnaaXka0. Visit my YouTube channel and if you want then subscribe to it. Stay blessed 😊
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Fear is a natural instinct. Whatever is reasonable – like the fear of snakes – is required. Other types need to be dealt with. But that dealing with depends on many factors, I think. I’m still afraid, at the age of 65, of people. I become nervous while meeting people and speak nonsense sometimes. But I’ve learned to accept this dimension of my personality and I move on…
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A young boy of about 4 years old sees and picks up a small SNAKE by the riverside, and joyously hangs same on the neck of his unsuspecting father, whose focus was on trying to catch a fish from the river – Upon realising his son hung a living snake on his neck, the father screamed and jumped into the river, his action scaring the innocent little boy, who at that exact time flee in the opposite direction.
Above analysis, showing that ‘fear’ is learnt !
AND CAN BE UNLEARNED . . .
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Very well explained
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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate . . .
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I am taken with your courage in the face of fear.
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