There would be nothing to frighten you if you refused to be afraid

If you refused to be afraid: This is such a powerful quote by Mahatma Gandhi. It talks about the power of control we exert on our fears. When we are so scared, it feels like we have no choice and the immediate response is to hide. But the response to fear also is a choice – if we stand tall against this fear, there’s a different response that our minds will create. It will bring up the other aspects of our personality such as resilience, fighting spirit, desire to move beyond fear etc. It doesn’t suggest us to deny fear, but act on it with diligence and from a position of power.

If we decide to stick to that approach, multiple doors open up for us. By doing that, we create more chances to defeat our fears. It is in a similar vein Vivekananda says – Face the brutes. They might scare you at first, but the first instance you show your strength, these brutes will go away. The same is true for fear also.

There would be nothing to frighten you if you refused to be afraid

Fear goes away once we have found a way to address it. If you refused to be afraid, your mind will start thinking of what to do about this fear. It will ask you think about how to solve the problem rather than just responding to the fear alone. In most cases, fear is a message telling you to do something about it. If you listen deeply, fear tells you what you’re unprepared for. It also tells you what you might lose.

Fear is a warning mechanism that tells you to prepare for an eventuality when things go wrong. This is not pessimism. In fact, it protects you from the pain caused by blind optimism which refuses to look and acknowledge the problems. If you refused to be afraid, what will hold you back? Fear loses its assumed position of power. It goes into the background because it becomes aware that you’ve taken charge and will know how to address it.