Fear is Learned

It’s been almost a year now, sometime in July last year i became an uncle; and for those who know me, it’s a title I hold in high esteem. Maybe its because I’m yet to understand the responsibilities that follow, nevertheless I doubt if I’ll be any less excited any time from now. I’ve had limited time with my nephew, but to the best of my ability, I’ve made those few moments count.

I think everyone should know the excitement of seeing a newborn; baby, puppy, kid, kitten. There is something about them that is fascinating; perhaps they remind us of how we all started, for those of us who didn’t fall from the sky, or how innocent and harmless and helpless they look, recently for me it’s how much of an empty slate they are.

Like a new hard drive; beyond the fact, they know nothing is the realization that they are so content with knowing nothing. They could touch a hot iron, put just about anything in their mouth, No preconceived notions whatsoever, always returning a smile to almost everyone who smiles at them, no bad experiences to make them suspicious of anybody, always assuming everyone wants to act in your best interest.

For my nephew, his excitement gets to its peak when I take him to within touching distance of our puppy, Taffy — always wanting to touch its head and having a handful of its fur. On some of our strolls, we go towards the dog kennel where he laughs when he sees the dogs come close. When I contrast his reaction with able-bodied men, who could be mistaken for Usain Bolt upon sighting any of our pets I’ve realized that, fear is learned.

Like my Nephew, we weren’t born scared; to the baby fear is nothing. Those who have watched the classic, Baby day out can testify. Climbing through great heights and encountering animals that should at least harm him was nothing but fun. Our fear is a product of a collection of our experiences or accounts of other people’s experiences; not just of canines but of trying something new, or starting that business, of starting anew, of approaching that lady or gentleman, etc.

Fear stops us from seeing that unlike our previous experience or that person’s story this new lady is quite different from the former one, that unlike in the folklore we were told there are more resources at your fingertip to research and get that business started with a higher probability of success.I’ll end this with by paraphrasing a quote by the 45th US President, Donald J Trump “There were things I succeeded at just because i didn’t have prior knowledge of their impossibility.” It’s ok to find out why similar businesses failed but ensure it’s for learning purposes and stop immediately it starts breeding fear, We weren’t born afraid, Fear is learned.Like I’ll always end my pieces; for the believer, the spirit of fear is entirely alien to the one you’ve received. Love and a sound mind are the antitheses of fear you now have that spirit, consciously engage it. If fear is learned it could be unlearned.