Mike,

> Dien... This isn't Fear of Failure. It's
> Fear of Pain! If he was afraid of failure he
> wouldn't jump at all. But he doesn't fear
> failure and he doesn't fear pain.

I still think you can have a "fight or flight" response to genuine fear....

For example, kids are always daring each other. I can imagine Evel Knievel as a kid....

Probably little Johnny said to little Evel, "I bet you can't jump over 5 stacked up car tires on your bike."

"Can too!"

"Come on, I dare ya!"

While a number of kids would refuse to do it (flight response), little Evel probably said something like,

"Let me show you, but you have to give me that big clear marble you've got if I do it, okay?"
(fight response, with a bit of entrepreneurial spirit thrown in :)

- Dien

P.S. There's a good Aussie movie called "Strictly Ballroom." While the surface of the plot is about a Ballroom Dancing competition, the underlying story is about FEAR and conquering your fears. A phrase repeated throughout the movie is,

"A life lived in fear is a life half-lived."

If you don't FACE YOUR FEARS and do it, you'll live with that fear for the rest of your life.