Mira 1

Jasmine Mira
Chiquita Boyd
English 111-72
07 October 2014
The Key of Change Is To Let Go of Fear
Sweat is dripping down his face. His entire body is shaking. His eyes are locked on what
is standing in front of him. He never imagined to encounter a large brown bear on his hiking trip.
As the bear was more interested in devouring the deer lying in front of him, he managed to run
away as fast as he could. This terrified hiker just experienced a form of fear. Before the year 900,
the word fear originated from Middle English, fere, which meant sudden attack or danger. Fear,
as stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is an unpleasant emotion caused by perceiving a
sentiment of being afraid or threatened. The majority of human population suffer several
types of fear or despair based on personal beliefs or previous experience in their lives. Also,
because of these experiences, someones perception about a specific subject can be changed.
There is an indefinite amount of terror that humanity relies on.
Fear restricts you from assurance, confidence and contentment. Because of society, there
are many people who fear rejection. Fear of rejection is being afraid of not becoming good
enough to fit into a social group. This type of fear exists because, like the fear of being alone,
most beings can only justify their existence through the acknowledgment and acceptance of
others. Humans are social creatures and are expected to follow social norms. Idle chatter can
occur in the grocery store line, at the doctors, or even at a fast food restaurant. Fearing rejection
can diminish a conversation and ability to socialize. The tendency to keep to yourself could
potentially prevent you from making lasting connections with others (Fritscher 6).

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A young boy named Carlos recently moved to the United States from El Salvador. He
knew his reason for being so far away from home. Every day that he was in school he would play
in his head the words from his father. You are here in this country to become the successful
man that I could not become. Carlos knew what his job was. He knew that he could not fail his
father and get distracted in achieving his goal. A very common fear in this world is Atychiphobia
or in other words, fear of failure. Because the modern society places so much emphasis on
perfection in every aspect of life, a person with atychiphobia will often not risk trying until
perfection is assured (Tyrell 19). People refuse to fail just to have the credibility that they are
accepted by the world. Society can also impact ones fear of success. Carlos, being from another
country, could have possibly been afraid of being successful and knowing the outcome of how
that could change his relationship with his friends or family. He maybe thought that people
would like his accomplishments and not truly him. A person should not be worried about what
the world thinks but be determined to accomplish their goals. As Gautama Buddha has said, He
is able who thinks he is able.
People worry about the outcome of something and fear what is unknown to them. The
fear of the unknown is easily explained like this: the mind tells us that in order to move forward,
we must know what is waiting for us there, because if I know, then I can control the situation,
and if I do not know, then I am not in control (Medrano 3). Humans must know what is going
to happen in order to assure something in their lives, but without this fear men such as Albert
Einstein or Thomas Edison would not have been able to accomplish anything. Many people, as
kids, were afraid of the dark, mainly because they did not know what might be hiding in there,
and similarly when they did not know what might be at the end of the hallway they felt the need
to pull ourselves away from it. However, this fear of the unknown often stops our progress and

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makes it harder for us to discover and understand new things, encouraging rejection and closed
mindedness (Medrano 4). There are many types of fears around the world and it depends on the
person whether he/she can overcome it.
Therefore, a person must reevaluate themselves and gain the confidence to conquer their
fears. When we become very anxious, it's harder to think clearly. But if we force ourselves to use
parts of 'the thinking brain', this will dilute the emotion and begin to calm you down (Tyrell 20).
It is possible to overcome your fears. There are physical and psychological remedies. Fear and
anxiety thrive when we imagine the worst (Tyrell 24). Your imagination reflects on your fears
because first, you think about what could possibly happen and then we automatically fear the
outcome. Some people misuse their imagination chronically and so suffer much more anxiety
than those who either future-project their imaginations constructively or who do not tend to think
about the future much at all.
Fear has its own way of creeping itself into peoples lives. It can be as small as being
spooked out by a Halloween mask to choosing the ideal career path. Regardless, every soul in
this world fears something, even if they say they do not. At some point in every persons life,
they will confront fear. It just depends on the person to portray their conviction and potential to
how they will overcome it. You can give this popularly used word your own definition but do not
let it conquer your life because it could restrain you form being more than you can imagine.

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Works Cited
Fritscher, Lisa. What Is The Fear Of Rejection? 2014. Web. 15 Sept. 2014
Medrano, Caty. Top 10 Strong Human Fears. 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
Oden, Jordan. Psychology John B Watson. 2014. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
Tyrell, Mark. 5 Sure-fire Ways to Overcome Fear and Anxiety Today. 2009. Web. 15
Sept. 2014.