The scariest nightmares.... how to defeat them!

I recently saw the film "What Lies Beneath", with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer...

One thing that movie made me think of was that, what we DON'T see happening, what we DON'T know, always seems scarier....

The power of the IMAGINATION sems to be the scariest thing there is!

And the great horror movie makers know this.... They know how to frighten the living daylights out of you by manipulating what you DON'T know... By letting your mind fill in the gaps in the most horrifying way possible.... Alfred Hitchcock was a master of this....

But this technique isn't just limited to horror movies! For better or worse, many of us use it in our own lives....

When we are about to do something, what floods the mind? Sometimes it is a panic -- "What if this happens?" or "What if that happens?"

We often DON'T KNOW exactly what will happen... And our mind fills in the gaps in the most horrifying way possible, like in one of Hitchcocks's films!

If you are a horror film maker, then this can be useful, but not if you are trying to achieve something! This is scary enough to stop you in your tracks... Paralyzed with fear, you can't move any further....

I believe that one of the ways to conquer this fear is through the power of INFORMATION and KNOWLEDGE. The more you know, the less scared you are.... My own approach is to always learn as much as possible about what I'm doing....

Not only through reading, though, of course.... But also by talking with those who have done it before....

This works because we tend to FEAR the UNKNOWN. By learning about what is unknown, our fear starts to disappear too!

Another technique is to just DO it.... Use ACTION to conquer your fear. Are you afraid of jumping from a high diving board? The way to conquer your fear is to get up there and jump! Once you've done it and you find you survived, your fear is conquered....

I had a friend who was scared of heights. So what did he do to conquer it? He took a sky-diving course and jumped out of a plane (with a parachute, of course).

However, it's good to remember that, like in a classic horror movie, often the worst of your fears is in your mind... The horror film makers know that. You should know that too!

Your imagination can dream up the worst and scariest fears there are.... The trick is to control and conquer these imaginative fears, through the dual powers of INFORMATION and ACTION....

Pleasant dreams.... hopefully no more nightmares!

Dien Rice