Fear

How do you respond to it? Does it rule your life? Do you face it and use it to your advantage?

It does not rule my life. I respond to it with anger, with rage. Ancient warriors would work themselves into a state of primal rage before battle, in order to counteract anxiety/fear.

Wotan wrote:

It does not rule my life. I respond to it with anger, with rage. .

lol Erik
The way I look at it, if you respond to fear with anger and rage, at least for those moments, and they do linger, it IS ruling your life. Your life is You.

If i respond to fear in some way, consciously or unconsciously, then it is also ruling my life - that fear -- or anger or rage which you mentioned becomes your master.

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Ancient warriors would work themselves into a state of primal rage before battle, in order to counteract anxiety/fear

Really, I didn't know this. Was this supposed to be the catharsis?
I wonder how many of their own they killed before battle? lol
I would have thought that the fight syndrome and all of that adrenaline flowing would have done the trick as they faced their battles and prepared to win or die.

Men are such silly creatures.

Arc, there is always something ruling over something else; that is how the universe works: force -- force upon force. Maybe that which rules over me is anger ( I'd say 'thumos' ); for others it may be love, and so on.

Yes, Viking berserkers would work themselves into a rage, hence the word " berserk ", which is derived from them. Sometimes they did kill their own, as the rage was so intense that it blinded them, made them insane.

Hmm  I don't think I respond to fear with anger or rage at all, but more like a concentrated calculating with a fundamental understanding of possibilities of life (anything can happen) and the willingness to do whatever is needed in order to eliminate the fear, all in a very calm manner.

I guess It also depends upon the actual situation that brings the fear.I find myself feeding off my own fear as a way of maintaining, rather than being crippled by it. I would also say that everything the human being is comprised of is rooted in fear and anxiety in some way.

Fear is an emotional defense mechanism, it is necessary for survival. If you have too much fear, or respond to fear with too much fear, you will become incapacitated, if you have too little fear then you could become vulnerable to the danger that is presented to you.

With that said, I don't think I feel much fear at all, Hmm I get this weird feeling around 3am when I'm alone in my apartment, like a heightened awareness of some kind, I think remember the first time I felt it, it was kind of an eerie feeling that I never felt before, I think it's tied in with that realization you get when you realize you're an adult who is living alone for the first time, sort of like that. Yeah then after that, it's a kinda fun feeling..I'm actually going purchase a baseball bat and glue razor blades into it, i'm going to call it "razor bat", I figured it would be something cool to have in  my possession and very useful if an unwanted intruder enters, might be a little bit difficult to explain it in court though.

I've had that same feeling, mannequin, at the same time: 3 AM. It's a combination of a heightened sense of awareness and a serene calm.

A mixture of calculation and anger, I'd rather call 'thumos' ( Greek ) is how I deal with existential anxieties. The calculated approach keeps things in perspective, while the 'thumos' keep me motivated.

Exactly

mannequin,

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I guess It also depends upon the actual situation that brings the fear.I find myself feeding off my own fear as a way of maintaining, rather than being crippled by it. .

How does one go about feeding off of their own fear?

Why would you want to "maintain" your fear rather than observing it for what it is and then allowing it to flow out of you at some point?

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I would also say that everything the human being is comprised of is rooted in fear and anxiety in some way

Everything? That sounds more like some kind of neurosis to me, mannequin.

Is all of love, human striving, the desire to create, to be autonomous and to grow, et cetera - is that all rooted in fear or can it also be rooted in the intuition, desire and the awareness that we have the ability to be free individuals and to create our own destinies?

I don't think that human evolution is ALL OR AS A RESULT OF ONLY fear and anxiety but the result of wanting to be and to experience, wanting to push through everything that would hold us back from becoming - that's not fear - that's enduring, positive energy and spirit.