We like to think of ourselves as fully rational beings. But unfortunately, that is just not true.

In fact, certain emotions, such as fear and anger can cause us to think and behave in ways that we would not in a normal state of mind.

Today we will go over fear and how much of the anxiety that we have is unwarranted.

We aren’t thinking clearly.

When we are afraid, we don’t think like we normally would.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Fear can save your life. But when we are in a heightened state of emotion, we are more prone to think less logically.

By this, I mean placing more of an emphasis on emotions than we do facts.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say you are about to meet someone for the first time.

Naturally, you will want to make a good first impression. Our fear, however, can deceive us into thinking things that aren’t true.

For instance, we may worry that we will make a fool of ourselves. We may think that we will misspeak or not look up to par.

Sure, these things are possible. But they are not probable. You more than likely do not have anything to worry about. Your fear is unwarranted.

Things don’t turn out as bad as we imagine

More times than not, we largely overthink how bad things are going to be.

The scenarios we play in our heads usually don’t play out. Generally, things go much smoother than we envision. So why all the overthinking?

Our overthinking is a bad habit.

We are all creatures of habit. In both our thoughts and actions.

We overthink things because we are used to it. In our minds the fear is a good coping mechanism. But it’s not. Why fret when there is no reason to?

What we need to do is create healthier thinking habits.

For instance, every time you are afraid something bad will happen, stop and ask yourself the last time things actually went as poorly as you worried they would.

Conclusion

Fear is a natural emotion. It’s okay to feel it. But we need to remember that a lot of what we fear is just an image that exist solely in our own minds.

Our fears are often unwarranted, so next time you’re upset and worried, think things through and reassess the situation. More likely than not, you’re just overthinking.