IS FEAR RUNNING THE SHOW?

Recently, I had an experience in confronting a fear by going into a cage with live tigers! I find it very interesting how we are all conditioned for fear.

Did you know that we all are born with only two fears? Babies have only the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. That’s it! All the other fears are learned.

Now consider a person who has never been exposed to a tiger or perhaps even heard of a tiger, not knowing that tigers can maul a person and cause great harm. Someone going into that cage might just think that they were going to romp with “big kitties!”

Fear is simply “False Evidence Appearing Real.” Even though I signed an insurance agreement to cover me in the event one of the tigers might consider me as tasty prey, there really was very little risk. Why would the tiger owners allow people to enter the cages if they did not know how to control the situation? The only fear was what I created in my mind.

And yes…it felt so real!

That is what we also do to ourselves all the time in nursing. I did not realize while I was in nursing that fear was running the show. I had fear in speaking up because I might get in trouble, fear of getting a difficult assignment, fear of forgetting to provide a medication or treatment, fear of not completing my work in a timely manner, fear of missing symptoms of my patient’s change of condition… I can go on and on.

Fear always seemed to be running the show. But fear is learned and fear isn’t real. It was always in my mind that I was going to forget something or get a difficult assignment or not finish my work or not being able to speak up.

Now, mind you, there are proper ways to speak up and it also goes back to yourself that you’re going to pick up on signs and symptoms of changes in condition.

So, I invite you to look at your practice to see if fear is running the show and, if it is, move past the fear and do the tasks anyway. Don’t spend any energy on worrying.

Sometimes when you’re going to work, it may feel like you’re entering a cage with tigers but just imagine yourself as a child who has never been exposed to the large cats and the potential danger they present. The way you approach the tigers is the same way you should approach your work; unlearn the learning of the fear.