How to Overcome Fear: Watch Me Overcome Mine

This video is going to be all about the idea of overcoming our fears, of having an understanding that the fear that we have in our mind is some type of block, and that the way we get through it is we have to simply push through that block. We have to become comfortable with what is fundamentally we thought was uncomfortable. So I've actually already filmed the ending of this video, which was me and my sister, uh, helping me overcome the fear that I have for snakes. But what I'm going to do first is explain the fundamentals of how I came across the fact that I was afraid of snakes, why that happened, and then the kind of thought process I had to change in my mind to get myself towards taking steps to overcome the idea of fear. So the first thing that I want to say is that I have an acronym that I've been using for years. I don't remember exactly where I heard it, but It is the idea that F-E-A-R is false evidence appearing real. The idea is that there is no actual inherent built-in meaning to the idea of whatever the subject of fear is, but it's the idea that we give it meaning based upon, one, our experiences in life, or two, even subconscious associations that we might make with certain ideas. So even me, for example, let's look at the idea of snakes. Now, I was brought up and raised going to a Christian church, and one thing that you might learn is that the devil is a snake. So right then, from early on in life, I was already associating the idea of snakes with the idea of the devil, which is evil. So the idea is that I was already having the subject and associating something with it. That may not have actually been, you know, snakes don't have to be something that's fearful or something that's evil. It's just an idea. It's a symbol that I bought into at an early age in life. Now the idea is that first off, that was something that was very much ingrained into my mind. It was something that I automatically associated with the idea of evil, but the idea nonetheless is that was my perception of it. Now, Fast forward even a couple years, I was like 8 years old. My mom had a snake for one of my brothers, my brothers or sisters, and that snake was like a little small snake. But I remember she was cleaning out the cage once and I was already afraid to where I didn't want to touch the snake, but I saw the snake then bite my mom. It was just a little baby snake, so it wasn't like a huge deal or anything. But the idea is that I then started to associate the idea of snakes even more. It became even more ingrained into my body, into my mind, into my nervous system, the idea of associating snakes with evil, pain, and those negative connotations. So what I do now is the first part of overcoming fear is first off understanding and having the awareness as to why that happened. And that's exactly what I did, is I just within like the last couple days I've really been overlooking this and becoming more familiar with why I have it. And that's That's pretty much what I came up with, and the idea is that I now know and I can look at it from a different point of view. So let's take the example of me thinking that they're evil and me associating the idea of pain with them. Well, what I can understand is that that is one perspective, and that's what's important, is to understand that even though we have experiences that label what those mean, what we can then do is simply decide that we're going to look at it from a different point of view, or simply decide that we're at least going to make it possible that there could be another point of view. So what I could do is maybe watch videos. I might not even be comfortable watching the videos at first of people that are very comfortable with snakes, people that have pets as snakes, that carry them around their neck everywhere they go, because there are people that do that. And the idea is that the more that I see that, the more that I rewire the association in my brain from thinking of snakes as something as scary towards then knowing that it can be something that's very comfortable if I'm able to condition myself and if I'm able to think in those terms. Now, what I've done is I've simply sat down and wrote down reasons why snakes might not be scary or why I could be comfortable. And one of the fundamental core of this is just understanding that snakes are an animal. Snakes are something that are just being— they're doing what they do. They might eat mice, they might do what they do to survive, but the idea is that it's still an animal. And because at a deeper level that I know this, it makes it easier for me to kind of relax into it and to start to soften the way that I feel about it. Now, because I've done this, now what I can understand was I've become first off aware of why I have those beliefs or why I have those associations, but now I can start to see it from a different point of view. And that's one of the important steps, is turning the momentum in a different way, is the information, is the knowledge, is the wisdom that I can see it from a different point of view. Now the idea though is that the next step is conditioning myself by actually doing it. So the idea is that even me in this video clip that you're about to see, which is like a 4 or 5 minute clip of me, uh, holding a snake. It's the idea that the most important thing is that I'm doing the action and I'm understanding that with time I will get more comfortable with it because it's just a block in the mind. It's just something that I automatically associate with fear or whatever the association is. But the idea is that the subject itself is neutral and I can choose to see it from a more positive point of view. And therefore, because I take action, begin to condition myself towards feeling that. So, but you'll see what I mean in this. Upcoming clip. I know he's not. It's all a figment of my imagination. So I'm gonna be completely honest with you guys. I've been stalling for probably the last 15 or 20 minutes to actually hold the snake. But right now what I'm going to do is I am going to have my— one of my beautiful sisters assist me. And what she's gonna do, she's going to give me the snake and I'm going to hold it long enough to where the resistance starts to go away. So after I do this, it's not necessarily that I'm going to love snakes and want to get my own, but the idea is that I'll become at least more comfortable with the idea of having snakes, and I— or like holding a snake, and also the idea of just knowing and conditioning my body and my mind towards being able to actually do it. So right now, my sister Emily, one of 3 of my sisters, is right over here. And as you could probably see, even when the snake gets close to me, my body starts to kind of tense up a little bit. And go and introduce yourself to everyone. I know, but say hi. Say hi. So what is the snake's name? Snakey Poo. Makes it a little bit easier. The snake's name's Snakey Poo and not something like, you know, Godzilla, like Godzilla or something like that. So what I'm gonna do now is I'm going to hold the snake and I'm going to explain to you what's going on through my mind. You want it on your shoulders? Yeah. Tail first. Okay. It's just a cute snake. You okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh shit. Okay. Just the head. I'm holding the head. Alright. I'm holding the head. You still holding the head? I'm holding the head. If I go like this. See? You see, at a deeper level, I understand that the idea of a snake isn't actually scary. Scary. It's simply the idea of what I associate with the idea of a snake. I think the snake can feel that I'm a little bit tense right now. It's shaking. Oh yeah, and I kind of feel bad for the snake. Um, but, um, what I've now done though is I've at least conditioned myself towards knowing that I can hold— what kind of snake is this? A ball python? This is a ball python snake. At least I know that I can hold a snake. I think I know what I'm doing. I'm looking at it. And I'm becoming more comfortable with the idea of snakey poo, of holding snakey poo and knowing that snakey poo is my friend, that snakey poo is an animal, and that— it's a living creature. It's a living creature. Get more in the— okay. Um, so yeah, so I have now just overcame— well, maybe I haven't overcame my fear of snakes, but the idea is that at least I've made the reference experience of being able to hold a snake, uh, because I have not ever done this in my life. So what I encourage you to do is to pay attention to what your fears are understand that it's nothing more than a block in your own head that's holding you back from being able to push through it, and know that you have the ability to simply make the reference experience to then push through your fears. And this isn't even just about the idea of snakes. It's about just proving to my own mind that I can push through whatever my fear is. So I wanted to be the human guinea pig and in being able to hold a snake and show you that you also can let go of your fears. Alright, that's gonna be it. Alright, can you— can you guys have seen the clip? What I want to encourage you to do is to look at what your fear might be, to understand that you can push through it, that you can become aware of simply why you have it, and that then from that point what you can decide to do is see it from another point of view and then condition yourself by taking action and knowing that that's as simple as it gets. Even though I might not be completely overcame with the idea or overcome the idea of my fear of snakes, the idea is that I've already started the process of conditioning. Maybe eventually I'll do another video of showing how over time I become more comfortable with the idea of holding snakey poo. But the idea is that you can choose something in your life that you might be fearful of and understand that you can push through it. You can see it from a different point of view and prove to yourself that the fear was just something in the mind, that it actually isn't real. It is false evidence appearing real. I hope you guys enjoyed. Feel free to like and subscribe below, and I'll see you guys on the next video. Much love.