Two Types of Fear

Two Types of Fear

There are two kinds of fear.

And I think it’s important to know the difference.

Yesterday I went down a rabbit hole watching videos of people tandem base jumping. The videos all had the same sequence. They started with a first time jumper at the edge of the cliff with their guide behind them.

The person in front was naturally very afraid to walk to the edge of the cliff and then override their natural instincts and jump. Usually the first time jumper would talk a bit about what life fears they were trying to overcome, and how jumping was going to help them face those fears.

Every one of them was shaking in fear, which is the natural physical fear response.

The guide behind would coach them through their fears and tell them fear is all in their mind and the fear isn’t real and tell them to just override their brain.

In this case, I don’t think I’d want to override my brain’s fear. It would be keeping me safe and alive by NOT letting me jump off a cliff.

There are two types of fears: 

• fear from physical dangers like falling or jumping off a cliff, and 

• fear of being psychologically injured, like the common fear of public speaking. 

But our brains don’t always understand the difference.

I don’t think I need to jump off a cliff to overcome fear, because that kind of fear is doing its job. But the other kinds of fears? Those are the ones that keep us stuck.

I prefer to jump off metaphorical cliffs. 

Examples would be:

• Setting a boundary with your micromanaging boss or someone who you feel is tied to your financial safety.

• Starting a new business.

• Quitting a job that is draining your energy.

• Becoming visible when you’d prefer to hide.

• Striking up a conversation with a stranger who might reject you.

As soon as they jumped, there’d be a second of wondering if the parachute would open or not and then as soon as it did, everything was smooth sailing and they felt 20 seconds of pure exhilaration from overcoming the fear and surviving.

That pure exhilaration happens when you face the non-physical fears too. And you don’t have to depend on a parachute opening to keep you alive. You learn you can depend on your own inner strength and capabilities.

I could never/would never jump from a high place. But I do challenge myself to face my fears in other non-physically threatening ways. 

Would you jump off a cliff? What is a “non-physical” cliff that you would jump off of?