From the song 'Step By Step' by Whitney Houston:
(#5 in Life Lessons's 2013 Top Ten Song List, http://lifelessonsforall.com/2013TopList.html)

Well there's a bridge and there's a river that I still must cross,
As I'm going on my journey,
Oh, I might be lost.

And there's a road I have to follow, a place I have to go,
Well no-one told me just how to get there,
But when I get there I'll know,
'Cause I'm taking it

Step by step, bit by bit,
Stone by stone, brick by brick,
Step by step, day by day,
Mile by mile.

And this old road is rough and ruined,
So many dangers along the way,
So many burdens might fall upon me,
So many troubles that I have to face.

Oh, but I won't let my spirit fail me,
Oh, I won't let my spirit go,
Until I get to my destination,
I'm gonna take it slowly because I'm making it mine

Step by step, bit by bit,
Stone by stone, brick by brick,
Step by step, day by day,
Mile by mile, go your own way.




https://youtu.be/sWa5vE4MUpU

"Here's some useful ways I have found so far [to overcome fear].
1. Taking small steps...
2. Getting some concrete, positive motivation...
3. Seeing failure and rejection in a new light...
4. Being in the now...
5. Redefining you, me and reality..."
- Henrik Edberg, 5 life-changing keys to overcoming your fear,
http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/02/22/5-life-changing-keys-to-overcoming-your-fear/

Do you respond to fear/danger as animals do?

"The findings suggest that, despite our sophisticated mental capabilities, our responses are in fact driven by these more primitive processes when in danger.
Lead author, Professor Ian McLaren of the University of Exeter, said: 'This research clearly shows that, in these circumstances, our reaction to a fear-provoking stimulus depends on a primitive response caused by associative learning. This is something we share with other animals."
- Daily Mail.com
Read more at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2088436/Eeek-Human-response-fear-like-animals-thought.html#ixzz3amNYtyGo

In situations of fear, as in the movie 'Independence Day', do you declare:
I will not go quietly into the night
I will not vanish without a fight...?

https://youtu.be/f-beyMTEBys

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward."
- Amelia Earhart

"The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That's the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead!"
- George S. Patton

"If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."
- Sun Tzu

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
- Marie Curie

"To know a species, look at its fears. To know yourself, look at your fears. Fear in itself is not important, but fear stands there and points you in the direction of things that are important. Don't be afraid of your fears, they're not there to scare you; they're there to let you know that something is worth it."
-  C. JoyBell C.

Know and understand your fears then take steps to conquer them. You can begin with small steps.

Song 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU#

Was Rocky worried before his big match?

Movie: Rocky
http://youtu.be/sHrlDDznJLc

"Confront your fears, list them, get to know them, and only then will you be able to put them aside and move ahead."
- Jerry Gillies

"Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain."
- Mark Twain

"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind."
- Dale Carnegie

"Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free."
- Jim Morrison

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comed along. '"
- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."
- Eddie Rickenbacher

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing."
- Frank Herbert

"Worry is a form of fear, and all forms of fear produce fatigue. A man who has learned not to feel fear will find the fatigue of daily life enormously diminished."
- Bertrand Arthur William Russell

Fears lead to effects such as worry and depression, but it does not have to be that way. Fears can be overcome.

From the song 'Hold on' by B*Witched:

Be strong, face what you're afraid of,
Come on, show 'em what you're made of,
I know it's hard when your hope is gone,
But you gotta keep holding on.

You hear a voice that's calling,
And it's telling you to make a change,
It's time to fly and say goodbye,
And move on to a better place.

You know you gotta take the first step,
To get to where you wanna be,
Just get on track and don't look back,
'Cause it's the only way that you're gonna be free.

https://youtu.be/wog5T3zGetQ

How did Mia Thermopolis deal with a fear of failure in the movie 'The Princess Diaries'?
https://youtu.be/2CkcwPi20ms

"Fear can guide you towards what’s important for you, motivate you to take action to improve your odds, and you give you a rush from staring into the Dragon’s maw and living to tell the tale."
- LifeHack.org, Why Fear is Your Friend,
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/why-fear-is-your-friend.html

"My 'fear' is my substance, and probably the best part of me."
- Franz Kafka

"There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls."
- Aeschylus

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."
- Bill Cosby

"Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make yourself a happier and more productive person."
- David D. Burns

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have."
- Louis E. Boone

"Never give up on something just because you think you might fail."
- Jimmy Lee Reed Jr

"Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game."
- Babe Ruth

Did you know? Atychiphobia is the fear of failure.
A fear of failure stops some for pursuing opportunities. Some others have extra motivation when they think they might fail.

From the song 'Fear' by Siouxsie And The Banshees:

Fear, fear, fear takes control,
Fear, fear, fear of the unknown.

Aware of what will hurt you,
You're prepared to remain this way,
So sad yet safe with your afflictions,
Afraid to start a brand new day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQUcjt10NGg

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."
- Dale Carnegie

Did you know? Xenophobia is the fear of strangers or foreigners.

Would you travel into space, into the unknown as the characters did in the movie 'Prometheus'?
https://youtu.be/34cEo0VhfGE

"Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable."
- George S. Patton

"Once we face our fear, once we treat our anxiety itself as a thing, we can then choose otherwise. Instead of filling the unknown in our minds with expectations of the tragic, we can choose to fill the void with a different expectation – the expectation of adventure.
For example, Seneca, the Greek philosopher, refused to be afraid of what he did not know. When asked if he was afraid of dying, he replied, 'Absolutely not, why should I be afraid of something I know nothing about.' His orientation toward the unknown of death was not to fill the gap in his understanding with horror but potential."
- David W. Jones, Moses and Mickey Mouse: How to Find Holy Ground in the Magic Kingdom and Other Unusual Places

"The unknown is not what to be afraid of, it’s only when the unknown becomes known that one can decide whether to be afraid or not."
- Markus Peterson

"Only the unknown frightens men. But once a man has faced the unknown, that terror becomes the known."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"There is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown. He wants to see what is reaching towards him, and to be able to recognize or at least classify it. Man always tends to avoid physical contact with anything strange."
- Elias Canetti

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
- H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature

Fear of the unknown is usually thought of as the fear of the unpredictable or fear of uncertainty/risk. However, fear of the unknown is tied to other fears such as: a) fear of the dark because the fear is based on not knowing what is lurking in the dark, and b) fear of strangers because the fear is based on not knowing a lot about a person.                                                                                                                                    

From the song 'Fearless' by the Neville Brothers:

So many questions haunting us,
So many doubts attacked our love,
Dangerous thoughts of what could go wrong,
Against the odds we must carry on.

Must be strong and fearless,
We must be fearless,
Ooh, counting on help from above,
Trusting the power of love,
We must be fearless, fearless, fearless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOAreomo6FY

"A fear of the unknown keeps a lot of people from leaving bad siuations."
- Kathie Lee Gifford

"The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety."
- H. L. Mencken

"Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence."
- Pope John Paul II

"The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed."
- Buddha

"You have to be careful not to let your fear stop you fron doing things. It's very exciting to test yourself."
- Francesca Annis

"We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes."
- John F. Kennedy

Don't let fear hold you back from your path and destiny. Boldly step forth.

Theme for the week 5/17 - 5/23: Fear.