Why are we so afraid?
@trulydreaming (139)
United States
August 29, 2008 6:51am CST
Why are we, as human beings, afraid of change? What is it that scares us so much? How can we improve without change? I just don't get it... Can you help be figure this out? I get so frustrated I could scream...and that really doesn't help (much). :-)
2 people like this
4 responses
@James72 (26790)
• Australia
29 Aug 08
Fear of the unknown? A certain comfort level with the way things are? Some of us are even just plain lazy. There can be many reasons. We should all get out of our comfort zone once in a while because as you have rightfully said yourself; how can we learn and grow if we always keep everything the same all the time? Change is as good as a holiday right!
1 person likes this
@trulydreaming (139)
• United States
29 Aug 08
Yeah...I can see myself feeling the same way at times...
Fear of the unknown...check.
A certain comfort level with the way things are?...(even when the way things are - well not good - there still is a sense of comfort...at least I "know" it's not good)...check.
Laziness...check...and if I wasn't so lazy there would be more than one check. :-)
Yet the majority of times I do not really fear change... I feel like it is a chance and a possibility for learning and making things better. If we do not change...we are stagnate...we are stuck. I do not really like feeling "stuck."
YEAH...Change is as good as a holiday! :-)
Thanks for sharing! I appreciate you taking the time! I hope you will have a GREAT day.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
29 Aug 08
It's the unknown. Knowledge is power -- having no knowledge then, would mean in most people's minds...having no power.
But if you're confident in yourself and you know plenty of practical things, I say this is rather silly. I've always been more afraid of things I do know, myself.
The only way to knock this notion out of people's skulls, I figure, is to show them that things CANNOT stay the same. Things that don't change or adapt over time die violent and horrible deaths. Everything ends. Fighting change doesn't help.
Fighting to make positive changes, however does.
The key is to get people to realize that they CAN'T be passive observers all their lives. They can't just sit out life.
Life is part of change, it's one of the few things that is inevitable.
@trulydreaming (139)
• United States
29 Aug 08
I know what you mean...you are right...knowledge is power...and I know what you mean (at least I think I do) when you say you have been more afraid of the things you know. Nothing too silly about that. In fact...it is very WISE!
Things cannot stay the same - you are right again! Everyone and everything changes constantly. You would think we would be "used" to it by now - since it happens all the time and all around. Maybe we just don't notice it all the time. Maybe we notice it only when we "fear" it... hum? I will have to think about this a bit more.
You really can't set out life...what kind of life would it be to sit on the bench all the time. We need to get in there and take a risk. We may strike out...but we may just make a home-run...or even better yet - we could bring home the winning run!
Well...THANK YOU so much for commenting. You gave me some great things to think about. I appreciate you taking the time to share. I hope you have a GREAT day of great change! :-) Take care!
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
29 Aug 08
I am afraid of change every once in a while. Especially big changes. My family and I just moved south to Alabama from Pennsylvania about four months ago. Talk about a big change. I am adjusting to it better than I thought.
I think that a lot of people cower a little over change. Basically it could be the fear of the unknown. Maybe not having control over something. Sometimes we just have to keep an open attitude toward life and change because it is a constant thing.
@trulydreaming (139)
• United States
29 Aug 08
Ain't that the truth...change is a constant! I feel the same. I do fear change on occasion. A big move like yours - effects every (or at least a lot!) aspect of your life. That is huge! I am very glad you feel like you are "adjusting" well!
I also agree that it can be fearful with you do not feel in control. I think and feel like we are TRULY INLY IN CONTROL of our own actions and reactions.
I agree...the fear of the unknown is a biggie! We do fear things we do not know...and we do not understand... I wonder though...why we "feed into" those fears so much. Why we can't rationalize and "talk" our way through things?
Anyway....I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I hope you have a GREAT day. :-)
@likaes (496)
• Singapore
29 Aug 08
Do you like change?
I think humans dislike change as it turns everything that they know upside-down. Their world that they were so comfortable in and know every facet of their life, can suddenly be changed drastically until they have to, in a way, start their life over.
For example, a low-wage worker in a factory may find himself jobless after the factory decides to use machinery to produce its goods, and he is unable to find a living for himself.
Of course, change isn't necessarily bad, as you say. We are always continually improving ourselves, changing ourselves for the better. That same factory worker, with a few new skills, may net himself a better, higher-paying job than he would have in the factory.
But the fact is, change puts us out of our comfort zone and out of our own element, and some people may not be able to cope with the change like our factory-worker friend here. To live statically without change is the most comfortable and safest way to live that we know.
@trulydreaming (139)
• United States
29 Aug 08
GREAT example. It is true there are things that happen in our lives that change things drastically...it may even feel like we are starting life over. And at the time if may not feel like a "chance for better things." Yet...how great is it to have to opportunity for a do-over.
I, myself, am out of a job right now. My positions were eliminated (ah...the economy!)...anyway...I have days like the factory worker might experience...were I am frustrated with the job market...worried about how I am going to pay my bills...struggling with hopelessness... YET...usually I can pull myself up and say..."hey...at least you have a chance...an opportunity; to move forward; to change; to find something better - something I can be happy/proud of.
Safe...that word...you are so right. That is it in a nut shell... It may feel "safe" not to change... It may seem "safe" to stay in the situation you are... And "safety" is one of our (as human beings) basic needs.
THANK YOU for bringing that up! I don't think I thought of it in that light before. That gives me something to "check into" and to think more about.
Well...thanks again for sharing! I hope you have a GREAT and SAFE day!
