Reducing Fear

The Crowning of Thorns is the third mystery of the Five Sorrowful Mysteries of the most Holy Rosary, and the fruit of that mystery is 'moral courage.'
Fear can be crippling, whether physical or mental, or encountering a bully on the playground or in the work place can be terrifying.
I am going to suggest three things about fear.
1. That all fear is the same. No matter what our fear is--all fear is the same.
2. Combating all fear begins with faith in God.
And 3. One simple solution reduces all fear, and creates a method for combating all fear.
I need to first say that this is not a clinical nor psychological essay of fear. This is a religious perspective in stating some things we may already know, but never thought of in this way. Practical means exist in which we can combat any fear, no matter if it be physical or mental.

First--All fear is the same. Whatever one fears--it is all the same.
As a child, I feared many things, and most of them stayed with me growing into adult hood. I always had feared public speaking--I would sweat terribly of the thought of speaking in front of people especially if I had to be in front of a podium. Another fear was getting a shot at the doctors office--just the thought of a needle going into my arm or another part of me would keep me awake all night. I feared walking to school all by myself because of getting robbed or beaten up which sometimes happened.
My greatest fear since childhood however, was losing my mother to death. How would I cope with this?
I want to suggest that all the fears we have throughout all our many experiences in life, that all fear is the same thing. There are not ten thousand different fears. There is only one fear in all our experiences. If we learn just one thing about that fear, we can begin to overcome it. We need to learn something about fear.
Religiously speaking, we can say that the devil likes to scare us in every opportunity. What we feel in fear is the same exact thing whether it is big or little, physical or mental. All fear is the same thing. It is how we approach that fear that makes the difference in our overcoming it or it overcoming us--which sometimes can lead to alcoholism, drugs, dangerous behavior, or even suicide.

Second--Faith in God gives courage.
"When everything looks dark, don't panic, counsels St. Therese of Lisieux. Ask Jesus to carry you like a little child, and you can rest upon his heart." ¹
In Genesis, our first parents sinned, and God walked through the garden asking, "Where are you?" The man answered, "I heard you in the garden, but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid."² I want to suggest something God did to help them. The man acknowledged his fear. Then God responded by clothing them. Let us suppose what 'clothing them' means for us. Clothing is a protection if you will against the elements in weather. It also dresses up our nakedness.
Save for a streaker at some sporting event wishing to be noticed or taking on a challenge, we do not walk around naked. Clothing protects us. Let us suppose for a moment that it can also mean a spiritual clothing arming us against an evil warfare.
Evil causes anxieties. Faith in God encourages us to splendid victories. Ignatius of Antioch faced two she lions when he was martyred. His faith in God gave him the ultimate courage. He believed he would be in heaven that day. He would rather face death then give up his faith. What drove him to that? Perhaps the clothing that God gave him. Perhaps becoming a martyr is the extreme measure in courage.
We all face fear. God gives us a clothing to protect us if we only would believe, and ask for His help.

Third--I will suggest that one single thought will diffuse all fear, no matter what your fear is. I will use for example one of my fears I overcame, not to pat myself on the back, but rather to give thanks to God for the clothing he gave me to overcome my fear of public speaking.
Before I became a lector, I would sit at Mass listening to the lectors reading. I thought, that is something I could never do in Church, with everyone quiet or somewhat there of, and with all eyes on me. I thought I would sweat bullets if I had to do that. I am perfectly content to attend Mass and not draw any attention to myself. Just stand, sit, kneel, and prey. No way I would stand up there and read in front of all those people.

A lot has changed since becoming a lector. I began to fit things together, and saw some things happening to me that convinced me that all fear is exactly the same. If I apply the method to which becoming a lector--it all fits. The method I will suggest is really nothing new, nor is it earth shattering. But when I place it together with my faith--it comes together rather nicely. Even when I apply it to my practicing martial arts--self defense. I found how to overcome my fear.
Rightly I defined my many fears to just one fear--there is only one fear. My fear was that I would not perform well. "Remind yourself that such anxiety is the fear of not doing a good job or the fear of looking ridiculous. The positive side is that your fear is really the energetic desire to do well." 3
Let that sit for moment, and consider that. What does that mean? You can apply that to anything. You can apply that to any fear. Then come to the conclusion that all fear is exactly the same. Then say, how can I do well in this something that I fear.
Naturally, we dread the coming death of a loved one. Who wouldn't? But the fear is the same as the fear in public speaking. It is the same fear in walking down a dark street, or spiders, or snakes, or anything that one may be afraid of. I'm afraid of not doing well. Instead of looking outward to that fear, faith in God, can clothe us in doing it--whatever it is--well.

In doing anything well, we first have to become a student to that thing we wish to do well in. For a 12 year old playing baseball--let's say playing shortstop; one may be afraid of the ground ball hit to him or her. All fear is the same.
I'm afraid of not doing well. What do I need to do to do well. Learn the fundamentals of that thing then--practice it. The anxiety we sometimes feel is the button we push. If we learn the fundamentals of that thing, then practice it, we begin to push the right button. Having faith in God--that God will clothe us--and practice--we'll begin to learn. We become a student of that thing. Our parents often said practice makes perfect.

In overcoming my fear of lectoring, I had someone sit in front of me--then I read from my missal. Whenever I was scheduled, I would practice.
Now something happens when I approach the ambo to read. I feel a sort of clothing. Perhaps it is an angel. I think of it as angel guiding me, telling me to slow down here, and speak loudly. It is God's clothing. It does not matter who is in Church. It does not matter how many are in Church.
It was through God's help I became a lector. God clothed me.

God also clothed me when my mom passed away in my arms in 2003. I was saying the Rosary at the time, just after she received last rites. We watched Mass on the TV together in her hospital room. And she passed in my arms. I felt God clothing her and myself. The fear was fading--there was grief, but God was clothing me. I was believing in God more than at any point in my life. My mom was not alone, I was there near her side. Maybe some of the words the priest said during last rites clothed us. She was at peace.

All fear is the same, and when facing it, one needs to be clothed to overcome things.
To overcome physical fear, some self defense classes will help when practiced correctly.
To overcome anything takes conviction, and the will to do it. True conviction comes from God clothing us. It may also be called redemption.

^1. "A Year with the Saints" by Paul Thigpen.

² St. Joseph Edition of the New American Bible Revised Edition
³ "A Well Trained Tongue" by Aelred R. Rosser.