general statement about conquering your fears?

Question

can anyone suggest a good example

Answer 1

When you are scared of heights and you go sky diving.

Coach

Answer 2

The following example I use to remind myself that often the things, like fear, that limit me exist only in my mind. It seems to help.

From when an elephant is a baby they tie him for certain periods with a rope to a tree. The young elephant tries his hardest to escape, he pulls and wriggles and jumps and crawls yet the rope just tightens and to the tree it remains tied. Learning that, the elephant doesn’t try to escape and accepts his confinement. A couple of years pass and the elephant is now an adult weighing several tons. Yet the trainer continues to tie the elephant to the tree with the same rope he’s always used, for the simple reason that the elephant has the concept in his mind that the rope is stronger than him. Abiding to this conditioning the elephant is trapped for life. To break free all the elephant has to do is erase that limiting thought for in fact he is free to go.

Answer 3

In my own life, I've struggled with anxiety in a number of areas. as a counselor, I've helped others cope w/ anxiety and face their fears. While I think it's important to explore the underlying reasons for one's anxieties and fears, my own way of dealing with a specific fear is usually to just face it head-on. My own experience is that once I've faced the thing or situation that I "feared," I realized that my anticipation of the feared thing was much worse than facing it. In other words, I think those of us with anxiety tend to build up our fear of something in our mind that is way out of proportion to the actual event. Soon the fear becomes like a "monster"-much bigger than the original fear. Avoiding the feared event or thing can actually give that thing more power, and make the fear worse. By facing the fear one not only takes the power away from the "monster" but helps one gain confidence. Even if a person faces their fear and things didn't go too well, it could still be beneficial. The person could realize: "Hey I was scared, but it actually wasn't as bad as I thought, and I was able to handle it fairly well." Then, with repetition, gradually the feared thing becomes less and less scary. Relaxation techniques can also be helpful when facing a fear-inducing event. Most therapists who treat anxiety can teach these techniques. I myself have managed to face my anxieties of performing in public, by acting in plays and playing music. It was definitely a challenge, but it was something I really wanted to do, and it helped me realize I didn't have to let fear control me. Hope this was helpful.