Many people would be overwhelmed with fear when faced with a task of jumping down from a rooftop especially when you don’t know where you would fall or how deep the fall is. However, we can overcome our many fears as proven to us by Beatrice Prior, the main character in the International Bestseller, “Divergent” by Veronica Roth, when she took that step to jump into the unknown. She is a prime example of taking that one step to overcome our fears.
In the book, fear is something that plays a major role in the development of the characters. In the main characters’ attempt to pass the initiation of their faction and become Dauntless, they are pushed to overcome their fears.
We all have fears. Our fears can stem from our past experiences, from our surroundings and from the way we were brought up. The problem with our fears is that we allow it to control us. We allow these fears to hinder us from reaching our full potential. We must try our best to overcome our fears for it is only when we are able to overcome these fears are we able to live our life to the fullest.
Here are some common fears of the youth today and how we can overcome them!
1. Fear of Failure – This is the most pervasive fear in the youth of today. A lot of us are inherently scared of failure. Ever since we’re kids, failure is something that has been given a negative connotation by our parents, teachers, friends and society as a whole. However, what people fail to see is that failure is essential in order to succeed. Failure allows us to learn from our mistakes and discover ourselves in the process.
Nnobody is perfect and we will fail more often than not. It’s about learning from our failures and bouncing back. And remember, without failure, you also wouldn’t know what it’s like to succeed!
2. Fear of Speaking in front of a crowd – This is a fear that not only the youth face but most people do. Studies have shown that this is one of the greatest fears of every single human being on earth. The problem with most people is that they subconsciously pre-empt their performance that they end up over thinking and messing up their speech as a result.
Most people usually assume that every move they make is noticed by others and that one mistake and people will be judging them already. However, the truth is people give you the benefit of the doubt and more often than not, they don’t notice your minor mistakes.
By reminding yourself that its only your subconscious scaring you and that you won’t die even if you mess up, you’ll start becoming more confident and before you know it, you’ll look forward to speaking in front of a crowd.
3. Fear of Expressing their opinion – Most of the youth today are afraid to express what they think. They’re afraid that what they say is wrong and that they will be berated as a result. This mentality should be broken for every person’s voice and opinion has value to it. People should not be afraid to speak out their thoughts for it is through speaking out that we are able to communicate each other and make everyone’s ideas be heard.
You never know, what you’re thinking might be the next game changing idea. You never know, what you’re thinking may be what the other person is also thinking. This leads to the next fear.
4. Fear of the Future – Nobody can predict the future, which is why we should not worry about it too much. Life changing moments can happen any time. We can never calculate and quantify life. One moment you may be reading this article, the next, you’ve finally overcome your fear. This is exactly why we should not be afraid of what lies ahead.
We must live in the moment for the greatest thing that truly affects our future is what we do in the present!
5. Fear of trying out something new – A lot of us are scared when it comes to trying something new. More often than not, it’s because we are afraid to step out of our comfort zone. As human beings, it’s in our instincts to stick to our routine and what we usually do. When it comes to something we’ve never done before, we start to feel nervous and as a result, overtime, we stop trying out new things.
We must fight this mentality especially for the youth because we are still young and there are still myriad of things we haven’t tried. Most of us do not truly know what we’re good at or what we enjoy and it’s only by trying out novel activities that we are able to find what we are passionate about.
Final Takeaways
What I learned from the book Divergent is that we shouldn’t run away from these fears. Instead, we must accept it and face it head on. Only by facing these fears head on are we able to fully grow and become who we truly want to be. At the start, Beatrice had her doubts but by believing in herself she was able to overcome all her fears and prove her naysayers wrong.
Life is about overcoming these fears, the doubts you have and all those voices saying, “you can’t do it,” or “you shouldn’t do it.” Life is about making that choice to “do it” because no matter what you say, at the end of the day, the choice is always ours. Just like how Beatrice abandoned the faction she had lived in for the first 16 years of her life to join the dauntless faction, we too can make that choice to become DAUNTLESS!
And with that, I invite you to read the book Divergent by Veronica Roth if you haven’t for it truly is one breathtaking book – one that will blow you away and in the process, show you that fears will always be part of life yet these same fears shouldn’t stop you from making the most out of your life, in fact, it should propel you to reach new heights!
Check out Veronica Roth’s Personal blog for more information about the Divergent Series, which I highly recommend you read before the first movie comes out early next year! Her blog: http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/
Also check out this feature article on the Washingtonpost on Veronica Roth and how she came up with Divergent and turned it into a bestseller! http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/veronica-roths-divergent-road-to-bestsellerdom-and-a-movie-deal/2013/10/03/54302206-2aa3-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html
I really liked this article! I agree with all of this and I think this shows youths that we should face our fears and accept who we are.