Fear is a core human emotion and an important evolutionary need to alert us to danger. But we also need to be able to tap into courage or bravery or we risk being paralyzed and stuck. This applies to situations as diverse as sticking up for yourself in a tough conversation with your boss, going on a mountain hike even though you’re afraid of heights, or going to therapy and learning to be vulnerable after a big hurt. (It does not apply to situations of trauma where the nervous system has been so severely impacted that pushing through triggers without guidance and coping mechanisms may be re-traumatizing).
But having courage does not mean vanquishing or overcoming fear, it means feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Sometimes it can help to picture yourself winning or doing the thing successfully, or by knowing that you’re not alone in this – every single person on earth has felt afraid at some point.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, courage is fear walking”
– Susan David, psychologist at Harvard Medical School
