The Economy and Fear

Christine Baker, The Patriot-News

This was written on October 29, 2008, a DailySkew contributor named Dani. How prophetic was he?

Fear Not!

Do you feel fear after listening to all the negative stuff that is happening around us? How much of this fear is having an affect on your day to day decisions?

Kind of dumb questions right? Well, I do think that fear, to some degree, can be a healthy mechanism that helps us stay away from potential harm, sort of like an alarm. But when we let let it get to much of us, it can be very damaging, specially if it is not justifiable.

So the Big question is, Is Your Fear Real?

Let me explain. I once learn from my physics class that when two equal forces act on something from opposite directions, they pretty much cancel themselves out. In other words, the end result is as if the forces didn’t even matter at all.

Here is an example:

Lots of people today are living with the fear imposed on us by all the negative information about the economy. The reality of it is, that all of us have been affected one way or another by the lack of work, cost of living, etc. And many people are terrified by the fact that house prices have taken a big hit, lots of houses are empty, some neighborhoods look desolated, and so on. However, not to long ago, lots of people were complaining about the rising cost of living, specifically the increasing price of homes. We kept on wondering when we were ever going to afford a house, or how our kids were ever going to afford it. This fear was also real not to long ago. An interesting point here, many of us that fear one side at one issue, are the same people that now fear the opposite side not to long ago.

There are many of these types of examples. If you think back, you may remember something that you used to fear, that turn out to be not so bad after all.

So is fear a real thing, of course it is. The important point is not to ignore our fears, but to identify it and to do something about it. Don’t live a life hiding behind fears. At one point we should face what we fear and do something about it.

When it comes to opposing forces, you need to realize one very important thing, the good that is in you is much greater that the force imposed on you because of what you fear. So if you focus on all the good things you can be doing with your life, fear will have no say in you.