Effects of Fear
Riding down the road, sitting in the passenger seat, Tom looks over to the next car and notices that they are texting instead of paying attention to the road. Tom tells his dad to pull over because he is afraid one of them will get hurt. Just like Tom,we are afraid sometimes, but it’s not always good to be scared.Fear can affect people’s lives positively by making them afraid when danger is near,and negatively by making them miss opportunities.
When danger is near, fear can help us know what to do,whether it’s to tell us to run or to call for help.For example,my friend,Cecilia was riding her bike down the street one day ,and came upon a man brutally beating his four year old daughter.Cecilia then feels the need to pedal faster so that she can get home and tell someone before she, or anyone else gets hurt.She wants to save the innocent little girl,but she fears that she might get beaten. In these kinds of situations,fear is a great quality that might save someone else’s life.
In addition,fear can sometimes be controlling and make people miss opportunities.For example,Amy was always afraid to talk to people.On the day of her big job interview, the boss would ask her important questions and she would nod in the place of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Amy didn’t get the opportunity to work there because of her fear of talking.Like Amy, I was once very shy. One day in math class, the teacher asked if anyone had any questions. Although I did, I kept my mouth shut and my hand in my lap.I missed an opportunity to get help because I was too scared to raise my hand and ask the question. In these instances, fear can be a poor quality to have.
It’s okay to pull over like Tom because people may be afraid of getting hurt, but nobody should ever let fear affect them in a way that could cause them to miss an opportunity.