Although the assignment was to discuss rather or not the statement is hard evidence or rational appeal, I am going to talk about what I believe this statement really means.
You never know how one particular situation is going to end, or how it will play through, until you attempt said particular situation. There are many different types of fear. Some people fear heights, tests, or ghosts. I fear facing my problems. I always think of the worst possible thing that can happen and I begin to fear facing this problem. For example, I had a hair appointment at 10:00 am with a new hair stylist whom I had never even seen before. As I sat in the waiting room, patiently watching the time pass, 9:45am to 10:10am, I began to worry that maybe the hairdresser hadn't written my name down, or had left without me knowing she had walked passed me. Many workers entered the waiting room calling in people one at a time, 10:25 am "Caroline come with me please", 10:35am, "Joanne it's your turn". Eventually it turned 10:40am, I am silently panicking in my mind, a sweat forming on my brow. I realized at the time I was worrying about nothing, perhaps the stylist was busy or didn't realize her previous appointment would take so long. At 10:55am I was called into my hair appointment, I had been panicking for absolutely no reason. All the panic could have been easily avoided if I faced my fear, ask someone why it was taking so long. A simple explanation would have seized any thought of something not being right.
In my life I've experienced many episodes, as the one above, over very silly reasons, simply because I cannot face my fear. My fear it to talk to any particular person about serious situations. (Although like the one above they were not all serious, but in my mind they can sometimes lead to panic attacks which are serious to me because they embarrass me, and embarrassment is another fear of mine.)
I feel like I have one of the silliest fears in the world, but then I think about people who are afraid of cotton balls and pickles. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" can be rationalized and proven with hard evidence in so many cases, such as people who are afraid of cotton balls. What is to fear? It is a little white piece of material, which people use to clean their makeup, or glasses. Most of your clothes is comprised of cotton, are you also afraid of your t-shirt? There have been articles of such people with very serious phobias of very simple things which are the farthest from harmful as you can possibly think.
I've faced my fears in the past. For my entire life I was deathly shy, it took every ounce of courage in my body to talk to somebody new. Public speaking terrified me. Every year I dreaded the moment a teacher would announce public speaking week. When it came time my throat would close tight and I would force myself to hold back tears. What if they laugh at me? What if they talk about how stupid my speech was behind my back? In grade 12 I decided enough was enough. I wrote a speech, I read it in front of class. Although my body vigorously shook, and my eyes were dry from holding back tears and facing the stress, when the teacher approached me and announced I'd been one of the two students picked to attend speech night that year, I proudly accepted the offer. Any other year I would have turned it down before the proposal was offered. Every day leading up to speech night I would wake up thinking about public speaking, and fall asleep thinking about public speaking, I literally ate, slept and lived public speaking. I ended up reciting my speech twice more in front of the class. When the night finally arrived I wore my poker face and announced I was ready. Inside I was screaming, "WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SURVIVE THIS. IF YOU WIN YOU WILL RECITE IN FRONT OF OVER ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE. THAT'S HIGHER THAN ONE HUNDRED. YOU ARE CRAZY." I of course ignored this voice in my head. It was my fear speaking. I recited my speech in front of the families of the six other grade 12 contestants, and the three judges. I was second to recite. I never won of course, but I faced my fear. I received a certificate and $10 for participating, and I will always cherish that piece of paper saying I participated in speech night. It represents the beginning of a long road to recovery, recovering from a fear. If you did not know me before this year, and you are reading this story, you will probably laugh and tell me I am an excellent story teller, but this is 100% true. I've grown a lot since that day last February, and I am able to talk to people more readily. Of course sometimes when I speak I can feel my social awkwardness escaping through my words, and people laugh at me, but it is all a part of the growing process. I faced my fear, and every day I am facing the same fear. I hope one day I will no longer be afraid, because I am not afraid of publicly facing my problems, public speaking, or talking to new people. I am afraid of the feeling that fills my body when I do these things, and I need to teach my body that the feeling is normal, and it will not change the situation, making it any better or any worse. You can not control what people think or say, which is one of the dependents to what the final ending of the situation you put yourself in will be.
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