Postcards from the Funny Farm

All people have fears.  Sometimes these fears can prevent us from success.  When I have fears at work, for example, they can stress me out so much that I miss the creative, innovative solutions that are right before my eyes.  One way of dealing with these debilitating fears is through visualization and practice.  I call this the “Tar Baby” approach.  If you go to Disneyland, you’ll find a fun water ride there called “Splash Mountain.”  The ride has a back story going on in miniatures all along the way.  It is the story of how Brer Bear wants to beat up Brer Rabbit and Brer Rabbit says: “Do whatever you want, but please don’t throw me in the briar patch.”  Of course this is silly to the viewer because Brer Rabbit was born in a briar patch.

The thing that scares us is the briar patch.  To conquer the fear we can visualize us getting along with the things that causes us fear.  Imagine yourself having success instead of failure.  When the moment you once feared comes, you will not fear it.  Like Brer Rabbit you will laugh and say: “I live in the briar patch.”

Enjoy the ride.

Did you ever see a superhero movie where the hero finds the villain’s lair only to hear upon entry:

Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.

Then there is a ghoulish laugh like “bwah ha ha ha ha” or something like that? That scene is pretty common in superhero shows. It’s possible audiences relate with it so well because we all have metaphorical villains that we fear. When our fear materializes it seems composed and set on destroying us. In those scenarios, fear has control, we do not. Wouldn’t it be great if when our fear shows itself we could say to it:

And I have been expecting you!

Preparation to meet our “villain” is the key to good mental health. Sorry if the picture is too scary, but I thought it accentuated my point well. The villain is not for kids.

If you go back and read my post on the REBT psychology method you will see that our belief about adversity is what determines our action and consequence. Wrong beliefs about things defeat us. At the present time, these posts of inspiration and good mental health are my favorite to write.  If your greatest fear is to lose your job, which is probably mine in all honesty even though I have a pretty secure job, then ask yourself why does that scare you so much. Is your worth 100% in your job? I know mine isn’t. As you begin analyzing that fear and asking “Why?” you can become prepared for the fear when it comes up. Classic example of REBT: Your boss calls you into his office. Do you panic? This is your villain manifesting itself. There is no need to panic if you meet him prepared. Your greatest fear is probably not even going to happen and imagine how much trouble you’ll save yourself by not being so concerned. You can beat that villain and another and another until ideally fear no longer has a hold over you (I am not there quite yet). It’s a great thing when defeat a villain, despite his size.

REBT is my latest excitement to blog about, thought it is certainly nothing new. As I close, let me draw your attention to another psychological marvel that shows us really all our collective villains I guestblogged about in a simple list:

The 10 Cognitive Distortions. These are the biggies to watch out for.  Remember this ‘aint no movie, this is your one shot at a life.

Now, go get yourself prepared to meet the villain.