Page 61 - WhoAreWe...

Everyone one of them told me that fear was completely
normal, to be respected, and anyone who acted like they
had no fear was full of it or just not thinking clearly. The
most tragic thing here was that often those people who
denied the existence of fear were the first to lose their lives
in combat. The bottom line is that ignoring fear or acting
like it doesn't exist is simply dangerous on so many levels.
Fear is real, and it exists for a reason, and it is how one
deals with it that is the most important thing of all.

Fear is how we, as human beings, are made aware of a real
and present danger. Fear should cause first acceptance and
respect, and then inspire to create an intelligent,
comprehensive response. The response will often include a
heightened level of self-awareness, and is a time for clear
and acute thinking as we ready ourselves for whatever we
have to deal with, working with it by using abilities and
resources to tilt the odds in our favor, increasing overall
ability to react and execute. The preponderance of this
ability is called bravery or courage. In other words, bravery
is not the absence of fear, but it is the absence of being
paralyzed by fear.

So fear is just a normal human emotion and not something
to run and hide from, but something to embrace and deal
with in an honest, straightforward and honest manner. But
when is it abused? The answer is that it is abused any time
one person or group of people use it to subjugate or control
a person or group of people for personal gain and/or power.

You've seen the guy on TV insurance commercials named
"Mayhem" who is used to sell insurance policies? Well,
there's an example and it gets much worse when whole
groups of people use it to subjugate and marginalize other
groups of people. It is just plain wrong and needs to stop.
Fear is a normal human emotion, can be extremely useful

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