Fearless
- Rashad
- Nov 14
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 15
The link that brought you to this page had a special photo on it. The photo of a Samurai from a movie called “The last Samurai”. The warrior portrayed on that photo is General Moritsugu Katsumoto. The charismatic leader of a rebellion, played by Ken Watanabe.A magnificent movie with tremendous acting, fascinating sceneries, and unforgettable soundtracks produced by Hans Zimmer. What I love about this screenshot is the fact that Katsumoto is the one leading his army and is the one fearlessly moving forward!
Play this song Hans Zimmer - A way of life, remind yourself about the role of fear in that movie & enjoy the humble piece of writing below.
We never truly understand fear. We experience it; we know exactly what our body goes through when we are afraid: the shivering voice, body heating up, the hesitation, the procrastination, and everything in between. It is fascinating how fear takes over control of our mind and body.
Difficulty to concentrate, racing and pacing thoughts, hyper-vigilance, excessive worry, rumination and fear of losing control is pretty much a palette of experiences our mind goes through. When that happens rationality and pragmatism goes out the window. Therefore, we become no different to a trembling Pomeranian Spitz.
We often forget a very valid statistic: “80% of the things that we are worried about never actually happen.” When we are afraid, it might even be challenging to differentiate between what is real and what is not real. Is there someone in the dark alley or not…
Our brain doesn't know the difference between a real threat and an imagined one. The same neural circuits that fire during real danger light up when we only picture it, flooding our body with cortisol and adrenaline. It's the same reason our mouth waters when you imagine biting into a lemon. Worry and fear work the same way — the mind rehearses fear, and the body pays the price.
Fear as a feeling may be as old as life on earth. It is fundamental, deeply engraved reaction, evolved over the history of biology, to protect organisms against perceived threat to their integrity or existence.
Did you know that the human eye is more sensitive to green than any other color? We can distinguish more shades of green than any other color. Evolution plays a significant role in our color perception. Our eyes have evolved over time, and interestingly, fear and anxiety were the driving forces behind this change!
Long before our recent ancestors, it is believed that our primate ancestors could see the color green better had the advantage over other mammals when it came to the need to identify and recognize food and threat sources.
Fear reaction starts in the brain and spreads through the body like wildfire to make adjustments for the best defense or flight reaction. The fear response starts in a region called amygdala. This almond-shaped group of nuclei in the temporal lobe of the brain is responsible for recognizing the emotional significance of stimuli—how much something captures our attention.
“For example, the amygdala activates whenever we see a human face with an emotion. This reaction is more pronounced with anger and fear. A threat stimulus, such as the sight of a predator, triggers a fear response in the amygdala, which activates areas involved in preparation for motor functions involved in fight or flight. It also triggers release of stress hormones and sympathetic nervous system.”
A month ago, I had to take my 9-year-old daughter to the dentist. She has an intense fear of needles, doctors, blood tests, scrubs, hospitals, and anything hospital-related. Right before the procedure, she put on quite a show. During the moments of preparation, she entered a fight-or-flight mode. For 25 minutes, she manipulated everyone in the room. In her moments of fear and anxiety, she came up with strong arguments to prevent the doctors from performing the necessary procedure. Of course, we all felt sorry for her—fear is something none of us can control. However, in her anxious moments, she managed to control all of us.
Since that day I can not stop thinking about fear. During times of fear, crisis and deep uncertainty, it’s common to feel unlike yourself. Maybe you're struggling to focus, brain fog, accidentally dropping things, sweating, feeling more clumsy than usual or just like my daughter who started to invoke sly tactics on the go. You might find yourself endlessly fidgeting, talking or scrolling through Instagram without really thinking. Sleep and appetite can be affected, accompanied by mood-swings. Even some people can not get on a plane without intoxicating themselves. "Hi can I get a double whisky before we take off please?"
These reactions are actually instinctive responses rooted in our biology. Here’s what the science says:
Our main goal as living beings, including humans, is to survive long enough to reproduce. Because of this, our brains are primarily oriented toward ensuring survival.
In humans, the parts of the brain responsible for immediate survival instincts are located at the back of the head, near the spine. They’re connected directly to the body, ready to activate quickly when danger is detected.
Beyond these survival instincts, humans also possess higher brain functions like reasoning, creativity, and compassion. These are mainly centered in the front part of the brain, known as the frontal lobe.
“Important for this discussion, when we feel threatened, access to the thinking parts of the brain is also seen as “unnecessary,” because when we are in danger, our bodies need to just go, not think about it. So when we’re afraid, if we’re not thinking clearly, that’s not us being silly or forgetful — it is instead those chemicals like cortisol, doing their job to keep us safe, to pave the way for get-moving hormones like adrenaline to get us out of there!”
Enough with the neuroscience for now. I wanted to explain where fear comes from, but I think it’s time to move on. I wish I had a recipe for the perfect sauce that could make all our fears disappear. But do we really need that? Are all fears bad? Do they all hold us back from living better lives? I don’t believe so. Let me try to explain.
"Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay." — Thich Nhat Hanh
Fear isn’t always a negative force, but sometimes a guide that helps us stay alert, cautious, and motivated. Some fears are evolutionary survival mechanisms, keeping us out of danger. However, some fears are irrational and unfounded. Let’s differentiate, which one is which.
Evolutionary Survival Mechanisms:
These are fears rooted in our biology and history as a species. They are instinctive reactions designed to keep us safe from real threats. For example, feeling afraid of heights or loud noises can trigger a rapid response—like climbing down from a ledge or ducking away—that helps prevent injury. Similarly, a quick fear response to a nearby predator or danger in the environment has allowed humans and animals to survive longer. These fears are often proportional to actual risks and serve a protective function.
Irrational or Unfounded Fears:
These fears are often disproportionate to any real danger or may have no basis in reality at all. They can stem from past traumatic experiences, misconceptions, or anxiety disorders. For instance, fearing that an airplane will suddenly crash without any evidence or experience to support that belief is an irrational fear. Unlike survival fears, these can trap us in patterns of avoidance and limit our lives unnecessarily. They are often characterized by exaggeration, persistence without logical reason, or fears of unlikely scenarios.
Now, here is the golden nugget. Not the chicken nugget… The golden nugget which means: this is the gem we have been looking for - The irrational or Unfounded fear. Which is precisely what my daughter has been going through every-time she saw someone wearing a scrub or a doctor’s white coat.
Currently, I will share two answers to the question: how can we overcome fear?
The first answer, which I prefer, comes from Jocko Willink, a former Navy SEAL and a renowned author. I would like you to interpret this passage figuratively, not literally, and to adapt that mindset for overcoming fear.
“So if you are in the woods and you don’t know where to go. Start walking! You gotta start walking. Because the perspective is never going to change, unless you start walking. You have to start moving forward. You have to start taking steps in order to improve your vision, improve your perspective, change your perspective, make some kind of progress and worst case scenario is that you will figure out that you have been walking in the wrong direction. Okay! Now walk in the other direction. But standing there LOST and not doing anything is just waiting to die, waiting to starve to death. Don’t let that happen!”
What needs to be understood from this passage is: indecision, avoidance, anxiety to move and negligence will take you nowhere. All you have to do is to move forward, against the grain.
I know it might sound stupid to someone battling irrational fears for more than a decade or for someone with very deep-rooted phobias. However, we tend to overcomplicate things. We make our fears part of our identity, and we think that we will never be able to let them go. Evidently, simplifying issues to their core and solving them from the root has proven to be far more effective than creating complex and unreachable barriers around them.
Nonetheless, if you still think that overcoming deep rooted phobias and irrational fears require more attention and systematic approach. This link might be helpful to you. In any case, staying stagnant will provide no change. The fear will become part of an identity. The answer is in the counterintuitive actions, in other words - Fear is the shadow of courage, reminding us that growth lies beyond our comfort zone. As Carl Jung said, "What you resist, persists." To overcome fear, we must confront it with awareness and acceptance, knowing that each step forward dissolves its hold. Only then can we truly move forward.
Pura Vida!
Rashad
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