I have come to think that doing a thing when you are afraid does affect the outcome of your performance. I used to believe ‘doing it afraid’ was so courageous and possible. But it dawned on me that it was less valuable than I thought. I collected some prominent people’s thoughts about it. First, Doc Leysa shared her opinion in class about why some people spark fear by which she does not totally agree with it.
Take it, for example; other professors are way too ‘terror’, as the majority label them because to their students, they want to be seen as superior. Maybe for some, it has a positive thing, but I remember how Doc Leysa said that we can learn and at the same time enjoy it when we are not motivated by fear. It is way more effective when we are motivated by joy or other positive attitudes towards what we are doing.
That makes sense.
One time, Sir Gab also said that when we will have an upcoming exam, he encouraged us not to sit beside those who were always nervous and keep asking questions about the topic. When they seem all over the place and their behaviour does not show calmness, we might want to keep away from them in those times. Why? Chances are, if they are nervous, we can experience the domino effect of such actions as well (even if you were not nervous at first!).
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I also grabbed another memory from the past. It was the time when my groupmates and I had our final defense in our group research. That time before the actual presentation, we were just so chill. We managed to laugh and stroll around the place. It did not occur to us that we had a final defense in that short while. Cutting the chase, we passed that subject. What tainted me was when Doc Joyce spoke about us having peace of mind right before the presentation. She said the peace we experienced before the defense presentation was God’s gift.
That is true.
I do not know where the phrase “Do it afraid” comes from, and I kinda regretted why I used it for some time. I did have some battles of fear within me about some things that were coming ahead of me. I told myself I would do it, afraid, but as the days went by that I was invested in such a cognitive notion, I was eventually paralyzed to the point that I lost encouragement to do things I needed to do with joy.
I was angry because I told myself that fear is reasonable. It is not. Except for some circumstances, maybe when we see a snake on the road, of course, our default system will be ‘afraid’ so that we can run from it, but when it comes to things that we can visualize and that we can practice peace and hope, I think to do it joyfully will be helpful and worthwhile.
How will it be worth it when we do a thing driven by fear? Where is the fun in that? You may have finished the task but you could have enjoyed the process.
As some studies would suggest, a negative emotion usually produces another negative emotion. It can also lead the way to notable mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. It breeds hopelessness that can lead to unproductive work.
(Creary, 2018).
It is good to ‘fear’ failing and all that, but being afraid while doing a task seems like a little lower than slavery. The “do it afraid”, is some sort of a mythical motivational factor. If you have the chance to stay hopeful and be at peace with whatever you are going through right now, choose HOPE. Please do. This is not me lifting up toxic positivity. I am just saying that we should throw out irrational fears (Especially if we have the choice to!) and replace them with hope and joy in pursuit of doing or finishing something.
As a Christian, I was a bit disappointed with myself and wondered why I was motivated by fear most days. It is a slap in my face that seems like saying I do not believe in GOD. Not all will agree, but believing in GOD really does change everything. Putting our hope in HIM and “casting our anxieties in HIM” will do a great thing in our inner lives that can result in good-perceived changes in our actions.
When times come when I am afraid of something, this question pops out like a little talk bubble in the background,
“Don’t I have a GOD to trust this to?”
Reader, don’t you have a GOD to trust that?
Whatever it is, I pray you won’t be a slave to irrational and bothering fears of life. We are only but a moment. Nothing seems to matter in the long run than our relationship with GOD, and I hope our relationship with GOD will always be cultivated with hope as we brave this life’s journey where all of us are just pilgrims heading to the eternal place HE prepares for those who believe in HIM.
Stay hopeful & blessed.
Sincerely,
Kryz
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References:
Creary, S. (2018) Does fear motivate workers or make it worse? Retrieved from: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/fear-motivate-workers-make-things-worse/