Day 812

This is the face of fear. My sweet boy, and his furry siblings DO NOT enjoy thunderstorms! Gus sat next to me for a long time this morning and just looked out the window trying to figure out where that horrible noise was coming from! Poor baby!

As I comforted my boy, I pondered the essence of fear. Going back through many of my own fearful experiences, I realized fear is brought on by the “unknown."

There is anxiety when facing what we know lies ahead. When I presented before large auditoriums in my professor days, sending my children off to various schools or going overseas on vacation are good examples. With the first, I knew my audience and lecture materials, but was always anxious about the success of the presentation. With sending my little ones off to kindergarten, middle school, high school and college, I knew what to expect, but was worried about my own reactions. Planning a trip is exciting, but the anxiety sets in regarding “smooth sailing." All “knowns," but still the heart beats faster.

With the unknowns, it is a different story. Often, the element of ‘surprise’ is present in these situations. A loud noise in the night, a child that takes a spill on their bike or a dog who slithers out of their collar on a walk are just a couple of my experiences with fear. Surprise plus the unknown is not a good combination.

As I sat with Gus this morning, I realized I could comfort him because I have known fear. Since the origins of thunder are known to me, I had no fear, but could empathize with my Golden Boy. It wouldn’t have done any good to try to explain or tell him not to be frightened. Just being there seemed to work.

Therein lies my lesson. Even though I was not fearful of the thunder, I could comfort Gus with his intangible fear. If I could do that, perhaps I could reach deeper into my empathy to comfort others who were facing the unknown with fear. Hopefully, there won’t be anyone in the near future that needs my empathy, but you never know. If there is someone, I will be much better prepared to support them. It worked for Gus!