The Gift of Fear (Excerpts)
Clearly, not everything we predict will come to pass, but since intuition is always in response to something, rather than making a fast effort to explain it away or deny the possible hazard, we are wiser (and more true to nature) if we make an effort to identify the hazard, if it exists. If there’s no hazard, we have lost nothing and have added a new distinction to our intuition, so that it might not sound the alarm again in the same situation.
If your intuition is informed accurately, the danger signal will sound when it should. If you come to trust this fact, you’ll not only be safer, but it will be possible to live life nearly free of fear.
When you accept the survival signal as a welcome message and quickly evaluate the environment or situation, fear stops in an instant. Thus, trusting intuition is the exact opposite of living in fear.
Intuition is always learning, and though it may occasionally send a signal that turns out to be less than urgent, everything it communicates to you is meaningful. Unlike worry, it will not waste your time. Listen to your intuition. I don’t know what might be best for you in some hazardous situation because I don’t have all the information, but you will have all the information.
Intuition is just listening; prediction is more like trying to solve the puzzles with logic. You may have greater confidence in conscious predictions because you can show yourself the methodology you used, but that doesn’t necessarily increase their accuracy. Unless it is relevant and accurate, knowledge can be the sinking ship the fool insists is sea-worthy, because knowledge often masquerades as wisdom.
The very fact that you fear something is solid evidence that it is not happening.
Worry is the fear we manufacture—it is not authentic. Worry is a way to avoid change; when we worry, we don’t do anything about the matter. Most of what people worry about has a low probability of occurring, because we tend to take action about those things we feel are likely to occur. The mere fact that you are worrying about something is a predictor that it isn’t likely to happen!
- When you feel fear, listen.
- When you don’t feel fear, don’t manufacture it.
- If you find yourself creating worry, explore and discover why.
Gavin J. Becker, The Gift of Fear