“Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future.
It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity Kitai. Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice.
We are all telling ourselves a story and that day mine changed.”
That quote is from the movie ‘After Earth’ and was spoken by Will Smith. It’s an interesting quote because it makes you realise that when you really deconstruct ‘fear’, it’s not real.. It IS all in our minds based on our thoughts and feelings about events that may or MAY NOT ever happen.
When I first saw the film trailer, it was this quote that drew me in, made me listen up.
Of course there were nice visuals of wing suits, action, fighting and all of that but it was this ‘fear is not real’ quote that made me pay attention and eagerly await the films release.
The film was a good film as well, not spectacular but it was good. The reason I loved it so much was mainly for this quote.
Why Fear is NOT real
When we say ‘not real’ we mean not something that can be physically seen..
You can’t say that one thing is the ‘source’ or cause of fear because that is different for everyone. One person might be terrified of heights while another loves them and feels most alive when looking down from the top floor of a building. No, when we say ‘fear is not real’ we mean it’s not something that exists in the world.
It exists ONLY in the minds of people who choose to experience it.
People have the choice about how to react and how to view the world, and fear is one of the things we have a choice about. It’s not ‘easy’ to control your fear and choose not to experience it, but it’s certainly possible.
People who do death drying stunts and put their lives at risk probably still experience some level of fear, (Well, most of them) but they’ve learned to suppress and control it.
Fear only exists in your mind
Anything you’re scared of throughout your life can be anaylsed to be either a real or an imagined threat.
It’s either going to harm you, or it’s not. Whether it does or not doesn’t really matter, when we’re talking about your feelings towards it and your fear. Let’s look at the example of someone who is scared of dogs.
Being scared of dogs is a common fear and probably based on the fact that some (A lot) of dogs bite people. It’s a fact that’s fairly well known and I’m sure most people at least know of someone who has been bitten by a dog at some point in their lives. So is the fear of dogs a choice?
Well, in the case of the person, let’s call him Bill, yes it’s a choice.
Although Bill is terrified of dogs, at any point he can make the decision to change the way he thinks about dogs. This is key, because it’s not changing the ACTUAL danger of a dog biting him, it’s changing the way he thinks about it, and the feelings he experiences when he encounters a dog.
He can decide to think positively and say something like; ‘This dog probably won’t bite me, and if it does, I’ll just move on with my life’. He doesn’t need to panic and think ‘This dog is coming towards me, it’s going to bite me, RUN’ because that doesn’t change the ACTUAL risk or likelihood of the dog biting him. If anything panicking and running would further aggravate the dog.
So he can do any of the following:
- Panic and run
- Decide the dog is not going to harm him
- Stay calm and carry on as normal
But it’s a choice, and that’s the important thing here. In the film; After Earth, although it’s a fictional film it shows how people are able to render themselves ‘invisible’ to the attacking aliens by choosing not to feel fear.
The aliens in the film cold sense fear and they used it to see people. By choosing not to feel fear the characters were able to walk among the aliens ‘invisible’ and this was known as ghosting.
The same sort of thing is almost true in real life, some animals can actually sense fear and use it as a tool to catch and intimidate their prey. By choosing to not be afraid of things like dogs, spiders etc you make life easier for yourself.
Of course it’s never easy and it would take a bit of work on your part to remove the phobia but just remember, ‘fear is not real’.