Should we live in fear or live fearlessly?

Question

Something has been bothering me, and I was hoping to get some other opinions on the matter. I know we all have our fears.....but do you let them controll your life? Some say it's better to be safe then sorry, but living a life full of "what if's" seems sad. Do you believe in taking the safest route to work , wearing your seat belt, and going the speed limit will keep you safe if a drunk driver smashes into you ? I suppose what I am trying to say is do you believe that we all will die when it's our time or that we should try to protect ourselves in this life to buy as much time as we can?

first off let me say thank you to everyone for responding. however, many people seem to think that I am in need of psychiatric help. Let me clarify by saying that the fear I am speaking of is not my own. I realize i didn't give enough detail to my specific concern.......so here it goes


many people in my family have had a close friend or loved one die from motorcylce accidents, and my family has a problem with me riding. i understand that motorcycles do not provide you with as much protection as say a car or SUV, but they are fun and exhilerating. riding a motorcycle makes me feel free ....and i love it. one of my loved ones said i shouldn't ride because it's too dangerous, but i say if your meant to die nothing will stop death not even the best car or protection......my loved ones say "but wouldn't you rather try to save yourself or protect yourself for your family" i hope this gives you more insight to whom has the fear and that i do not need professional help.....

.... all i wanted was other people's opinions on the subject not a diagnosis of my mental state...

Answer 1

I believe that there has to be a balance between fear and fearlessness. We fear things for a reason, and the person who says he is never afraid is either a liar or an idiot. However, to allow fear to control all aspects of one's life is just as foolish; such a person really doesn't HAVE a life. It's always possible that something bad could happen, and it's fine to take precautions, but there has to be a point at which you simply take a chance and go with the odds. To go beyond one's fear and lead a normal life is what courage is all about.

Answer 2

Imagine life with no fear at all. I think fear is the key that keeps us going. I think if we have absolutely no fear, we cease to exist.

According to Buddhist philosophy, we come into being because of ignorance and fear itself is an ignorance. So if there is no fear, we just cease to exist. As long as we are living, we'll always have some sort of fear haunting us. Some fear about losing the loved ones, some fear about losing jobs, some fear about being lonely, etc. I think my answer has given you some hint about what I'm trying to say. However I am not suggesting that we shouldn't overcome our fears. Overcoming fear is in fact being wiser.

Taking precautions in life, whether it's while driving or chopping a pork chop with a sharp knife, is just being careful not to inflict unnecessary harm to yourself. I don't know if this can be considered a real fear or should we look at it from a different perspective.

Answer 3

I believe that you need to find a good balance. You also have to be flexible as each situation is different and therefore, different amounts of fear or "being more careful" may be wise. I don't make a decision to be a certain way, and then keep it the same "across the board". I sometimes speed, if the conditions are optimal and I have an urgent situation at hand, other times I am very careful, and be sure to drive the safe speed limit and buckle up.... it all depends on the situation.

It's all about good judgement.

Answer 4

You may want to see a psychologist or psychiatrist about this. Too much fear, especially to the point of seriously impairing your life, is probably a form of mental illness. This is nothing to be ashamed of, but it IS something to address.

All people take simple measures to address everyday risks - usually without even thinking about it. Most people don't want to die (whether motivated by fear, unfinished business, whatever...) so they don't drive like maniacs, for example. This is a good thing for all of us.

It is very dangerous to believe that your death is predestined or in god's hands or something crazy like that, because it can make you suicidal. It is natural for you to want to live because you enjoy life. If you are not feeling that, you should get help.

Many people make the mistake of assuming that life's main goal is to live as long as possible. We all die when our bodies have had enough. Get comfortable with this fact, and plan to live a full and rich life up to that point.

The real purpose of life is to follow your bliss. Take reasonable measures to protect yourself from real risks, but realize that you cannot avoid some risk if you want to have a good life.

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

Hi !
It is said that fear is the dangerours of all emosions and every fear is a fear of loosing something. Don't make your self worry too much & don't let your emmosions to controle you. you have to take controle of your mind.
Practise meditation which will improve your mind power. The simple methord is before you go to sleep & before you go to work sit and relax for 2min's & then close your eyes, try to feel how you breath in & out practise this for 10 mints every day, most of your problems will be solved slowly.
I wish you all the very best.

Answer 6

I wear my seatbelt as a I drive a hundred on the highway.

Woman, just buy a damn bike... Do you realize this is your only life? You'll NEVER get another chance to ride a motorcycle... If you don't do it now, you'll never do it... This is your only life; make it one worth living. Do you want to be 40 years old wishing you bought that bike when you were younger? What's the point of life if your not going to do the things you love? Yeah, it might be dangerous, but wouldn't you rather die doing something you love, than to live doing something you dislike?

Answer 7

Ignorance is fearful.
Ignorant people fear everything and and do every fearful things.
Therefore, men should seek education to attain wisdom; the more they become wise, the more they will avoid fear or causing fear.
And the source of wisdom is the fear of God.
This is the great riddle which is attacched to human life from eternity to eternity. Men of all generations would have to seek the wisdom of God to carry out an ever-advancing civilization. And that wise fear will remove all other ignorant fears, such as fears of poverty, sickness, death..., and so on.

Answer 8

I think it is sometimes wise to fear. Of course what you fear must be something worth fearing. For example, poison, fire, drowning…

I think we do die when it is our time, but that does not mean I ought not to take the necessary precautions to protect myself from injury. If I were in a car crash and I did not wear my seatbelt it might not be my time to die but I might end up severely injured or even paralyzed. If I wore my seat belt in the first place it might prevent me from experiencing the more unfortunate occurrences.

To fear and to be paranoid are two very different things. To fear (as I said above) is wise. To be paranoid is simply unnecessary and unhealthy.

Answer 9

The rule of thumb is that when these types of emotion impede your daily life, then you should treat them. A president said "Only the paranoid survive", which I believe in, but if your fears are so present in your life that you talk about it on Yahoo Answers, then look for ways to find the origins and cure them

Answer 10

In my opinion we didn't come with experation dates but we are guaranteed to expire. A little common sense of limitation will enable us to live a full life. Of coarse the definition of a "full life" varies greatly from one person to the next so little risk may be needed for someone to look back at his life and feel like they really did live life.