Are You Past Irrational Fear?

by compound complex 16 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  John Doe

  I can safely say I've replaced 99% of the fear and apprehension in my life with apathy and indifference.
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  cameo-d

  If I could see certain fears as irrational then I could overcome it.

  Fear is not irrational to the one who is experiencing it.

  I have a fear of spiders. I am bigger than a spider and I can kill it. So does that make my fear irrational?

  I also know that the spider can sneak up on me and bite. I have known 2 people who have suffered with recluse spider bites. One took over a year to get over it because of lasting effects. The other person nearly lost a leg because he did not go for treatment until it was severly progressed.

  Is my fear of spiders irrational?
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  compound complex

  John Doe:

  Well, that is a solution.

  cameo:

  My initial thought was to contrast normal fear (such as fear of spiders, bodily harm, etc.) with irrational fears, such as those learned in a cult setting. Unrelenting fear of displeasing the elders, the theocratic family and Jehovah is what I call an irrational, and, thereby, crippling fear. Such fear acts as a restraint and impedes the natural flow of love, impinging upon normal, productive human activity.

  Responses and questions lead to further clarification upon a scarcely fleshed-out thought.

  Thanks for the question.

  CoCo No Sage
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  yadda yadda 2

  Scandals and coverups?
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  cameo-d

  Coco,

  I understand what you meant. Some fears are paralyzing and the results are just as you say. But I am afraid to go there. So I deflect.

  To me, my fears are not "irrational". But others who do not see what I see may think it is so. It is often hard to deal with.
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  compound complex

  Puzzling, yadda ... I wonder, too, about these automatic classifications.

  Perhaps it's totally subjective, cameo.

  What I once feared (another's assessment of my rational or irrational fear is immaterial) may no longer be a concern. Fear is an intangible; in certain instances, these phantom parasites are deeply rooted, lurking in the darkened corridors of our inscrutable mind. Looking into the definition of irrational, I find that this word describes elements of prosody and mathematics too.

  I have no fear of either.

  But I do totally understand that there are arenas into which one dares not tread ...

  The Lady or the Tiger?

  Thanks,

  CoCo Dreadnaught
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  Witness 007

  I think my fears have sometimes kept me alive......but I may be alittle too careful at times.