Fear of The Unknown

This week I will like to blog about facing our fears.  After last week’s blog post, I received quite a few inboxes concerning wanting to conquer specific fears. A topic I’m very familiar  with, not from theory but from experience.  Keep in mind that I’m not a professional and only speak of my experiences and life lessons in hopes that through sharing them; I could inspire you to seek your own healing. These are some of the fears I have struggled with in my own life;

Fear of the unknown: afraid to try something new or different.

Fear of Failure: afraid of making mistakes, of feeling inadequate.

Fear of Rejection: afraid of not being accepted for whom you truly are.

Fear of Trust: afraid of being vulnerable; of being hurt.

Fear of Love:  afraid of falling in love and of the commitment it involves.   

I work as an interpreter for several hospitals in the city.  During my almost three years of doing this job I’ve seen it all. From open wounds and childbirth, to death.  This is most definitely a job that makes you reflect on life and on how when you don’t have health; nothing else matters as much. I’ll give you an example of a woman whose fear of the unknown almost caused her, her life.  Carmen, a woman in her mid 40s, had endured a mastectomy in the past.  After five years the cancer returned; along with many other complications.  She came into the hospital with obvious internal bleeding; the skin around the area of her mastectomy was so thin from radiation that I could literally see through her skin.  We spent more than eight hours (while she was internally bleeding) trying to convince her to sign consent for a procedure. Because the doctor could not tell her the exact outcome of her surgery, she didn’t want to get it. She insisted she wanted to know what was going to happen to her; something the doctor could not answer without opening her up through surgery to find out what was bleeding.  Her fear was of not knowing what was going to happen to her. Finally reluctantly she accepted; she spent over seven hours in the operating room. Consequently, since she waited so long to make up her mind, the extent of the damage became worse.  Carmen made it through the surgery, but her hesitation caused her unnecessary complications.   

This happens to us when we are afraid of the unknown. There are times that we know we need a change, we want more out of life; we are not satisfied with our situation.  But the only way we are going to get different results is by doing something different.  

The fear of not knowing the outcome paralyses us to the point that we miss out on great opportunities or we cause more damage to our present situation. Sometimes we have to take the leap and risk the familiar for the unfamiliar to grow.  The outcome may not always be perfect but at least we are headed in the right direction.  This applies to jobs, relationships, and even our health. Unless we try something we won’t know our potential in that area.  In the meantime, while we are trying to decide, life passes us by, we become older and less able.  I know for me a lot of it has to do with control.  I wanted to control things around me to the point of knowing that everything will be ok. Unfortunately, life happens without our permission; tragic things like the loss of my brother for instance.  It’s not until then that we are able to let go and recognize that no matter how hard we try to hold on, life happens. So why not take chances, take risks and try something new. Apply for a new job, go back to school, ask someone out for a date, paint, sing, dance, the sky is the limit. You’d be surprised the things you are good at and had no idea you were. Lol

Share with me if you try something new this week; let me know how it goes. ;0)