Don’t fear fear

Most people are so worried and afraid of what “might” happen (“I’ll fail,” I’ll look stupid”, e.t.c) that they become frozen by their fears. Fear is like a virus that wrecks havoc in our lives. It develops into mistrust, anxiety, worry, hopelessness, and other negative emotions. It paralyzes us and hinders our progress in life.

When fear grips you, you become powerless.
It’s the greatest obstacle to success; a saboteur you should overcome. Get over your fears today by doing the exact thing that you are afraid of. Don’t fear fear.

-Eric Kinoti, C.E.O Shade Systems (E.A) Ltd.

Remember:

Image Credits: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/244672192233929341/

Face your Fears: Part 3

According to Joseph Murphy, the author of The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, a newborn baby has only two basic fears, the fear of falling and the fear of sudden loud noises. This means that we are all born with two basic fears and these fears are perfectly normal. All the other forms of fear are abnormal. They were caused by particular experiences or were passed along to you by parents, relatives, teachers, and others who influenced your early years. I guess my fear for the Isuzu lorry, the Caterpillar and The Brothers of Destruction was caused by the ‘horrifying’ influence they had on my childhood.

Fear is an individual’s greatest enemy. It is behind failure, sickness, and bad human relation. Millions of people are afraid of the past, the future, old age, insanity, and death. But behold! Remember, fear is of only two types – normal and abnormal.

One of the greatest ways of facing your fears is putting into practice the Law of Substitution. The next time you find yourself beset with an abnormal fear, you should make it a point to move mentally in the opposite. Simply put, if you fall sick – desire health, if you are afraid of failure – give attention to success. Remaining in the deep end of fear will only make you suffer stagnation not forgetting the accompanying mental and physical deterioration. We are always reminded that if we want to overcome the fear of failure then our dreams and desire for success should surpass the fear of failure.

Look at your fears. Subject them to the light of reason. Moreover, learn to laugh at your fears. As they say, laughter is the best medicine. I must say that laughing at the design of the Isuzu lorry made me overcome my fear of it. You will agree with me that the design of this lorry is kind of funny. What made me overcome my fear of the lorry with finality was that one evening as my brother and I were walking home from school, we were given a free ride.

The driver’s name was Boy, a dealer in sand and ballast. I remember when I alighted upon reaching my destination he said,

”Enda ambia mama ni Boy amekupea lift leo.”

I did as I was told and since then, well, I must say I intend to acquire the old model Isuzu lorry and probably join the construction business.

So the next time you spot a rugged old model Isuzu lorry loaded with heavy building and construction materials, with its engine chiming accompanied by ungovernable coughs similar to those of a patient suffering from a cold, as it ‘struggles’ to drive by, acknowledge it! It is simply one of the best inventions ever in the automobile world.

Face your Fears: Part 2

The second attempt involved using an 18-wheeled long truck. Wow! Let me just say that by this moment, my fear for cars was real! How now? The moment the truck pulled up at the accident scene, I could not help it but my heart just kept on pounding hard against my then feeble sternum.

”Woi mama yoooooo!!!!! Mama saidia!!!”

I do not know how it happened but all I remember is that I let out these loud screams. The scream was primal. It had a raw intensity to it that told of urgency, of desperate need for protection. The mama being referred to here was nowhere close and I then became scared the more as an adult would be in the forest at night.

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The old model Isuzu lorry that I feared.

Image Credits: Courtesy

Each moment I came near an old model Isuzu lorry, I could not stop my heart from pounding hard. At other times, I felt like letting out the usual mama yoo saidia screams. The worst case scenario was when that lorry was loaded with bags of charcoal. Oh my! You never want to know how horrified I grew. You do not even want to know the terrifying imaginations that clouded my mind. I could not help but imagine myself being trapped beneath its wreckage in the aftermath of a catastrophic accident. My fear for this lorry model reached the crazy levels, crazy here meaning that I even feared a lorry well stationed in a packing lot!  This fear was made worse when the night drew close. Some nights were scarier. From walking in the dark with the imaginations of The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane)  in my head to sleeping at night and dreaming that the old model Isuzu lorry was on my case!

Image Credits : Dreamstime

But as they say, it takes time to overcome some things. As I grew older and as I saw more of these old model Isuzu lorries, I came to appreciate it as one of the greatest inventions ever in the world of automobiles. The reason I am saying this and I know you will agree with me is that, in your day to day life you never miss spotting them driving by unless you live in a top class estate.

The DURABLE old model Isuzu lorry that is used for ferrying construction materials by those in the business.

Image Credits: OLX

In my case, I spot them carrying loads of sand, ballast and construction blocks. Some are old as KMJ and some are ‘new’ as KAB (note this plate registration is kind of old in Kenya). They are preffered for their durability by those individuals in the construction business. I guess appreciating them as one of the most impressive inventions did good to help me overcome the fear. Moreover, through a vigorous process of unlearning what caused my fear for these automobiles helped me face my fears. Well, as it is known FEAR in its positive meaning stands for Face Everything And Rise, I guess my time to RISE had come.

To be continued…………….

Face your Fears: Part 1

Is there a fear of cars? Or to put it in another way, is it possible for one to fear a car the same way (s)he can fear a spider, or a dog or a snake? Well, this is my case. Back in my childhood days, an accident occurred near our home. It was around half past 9 in the evening. The usual supper meal of ugali na sukuma wiki was over. The News bulletin for the day was over and we were waiting for Nightman before The bo and the beau (The Bold and the Beautiful) followed at 10 p.m. These were the days when adults would keep on using phrases like, ”Watoto wa Nairobi wameshalala, kwenda lala haraka!!!” (The Nairobi kids are already asleep, go to bed fast!!!) to ensure that they had a nice time watching The Bold and the Beautiful. It seems that Ezekiel Mutua’s rules had been in force a long time ago as the hot romantic show aired after 10 p.m.

 

Cover photo for The Nightman, a show that aired on KBC back in the days.

Image Credits: MTV

 

Back to the accident story. All we heard was a loud bang. Screams and shouts could then be heard. A certain neighbour whom we nicknamed Sister came over to our place and amidst her hasty breaths, she muttered, ”Lorry ya makaa imeanguka!!” The night had been dark and out of fear of darkness, all I could do was peep at the accident scene from the balcony. This fear of darkness was largely due to my fear of wrestling stars namely The Undertaker and Kane! All that kept playing in my head each moment I found myself in the dark was that The Undertaker grabbed me by my neck and dumped me in his ubiquitous casket before proceeding to bury me alive! Or worse still, I could not help but imagine Kane grabbing me before executing the Tombstone Piledriver then proceeding to burn me alive!! Woi!!! What a childhood gripped by fear I had!

 

Kane executing the Tombstone Piledriver

Image Credits: Triple-threat Podcast

 

That night I slept well despite the imagined thoughts of the different kinds and bouts of phobia I used to experience. Oh! How I wish I knew in advance that the worst was yet to come. The morning came and the first thing that came to my mind was to rush to the scene. I did not mind the breakfast. Little did I know that I was going to subject myself to a new kind of phobia.

 

The Undertaker and his casket.

Image Credits: Youtube

 

People had milled around the accident scene. The scene was all messy. It felt like an oil spill on dry land due to the crushed bags of charcoal which now had scattered all over the road and surrounding bushes. According to eye-witness accounts, the old model Isuzu lorry had been overloaded with bags of charcoal and upon negotiating the corner, it overturned. The way the Isuzu lorry had been distorted seemed to tell the story of it being in a fight with nature. It was like the lorry had been trying to defy the laws of physics only to be put down and reminded that one cannot defeat nature. One has to abide by the laws of nature! In an instance, I could sense sharp pangs of fear rising within me. My heart began pounding hard and I could not explain what was going on inside me. Disturbing thoughts of the driver and his turn-boy being trapped beneath the wreckage began hitting my mind and in no time I could feel myself being under the strong grips of fear and I could not explain why.

 

The old model Isuzu lorry had been overloaded with bags of charcoal

Image Credits: Courtesy

 

Efforts were being made to clear the scene and the first attempt was to use the Town Council’s Caterpillar. The whines of the Caterpillar’s engine as it ‘struggled’ to pull the lorry out of the roadside ditch were enough proof that there was no work being done. According to science, and more specifically Physics, work is said to be done when force is used to move an object over a certain distance need I say more? In this case, the Caterpillar was ‘jumping’ on the spot. And then at one moment,  the rope cut lose and the Caterpillar jerked forward as its engine growled like a bear taunting an enemy. I just found myself running back to the house in fear. It was as if I was going to die in the next minute! Tears welled up my eyes and I could not explain why I was suddenly developing a fear for Caterpillars!

 

An earthmover Caterpillar

Image Credits: frsCapital

To be continued……………………