Some people may go about their day with little worries while others may have a heightened sense of fear
Fear derives from our belief system. Things we may have been taught as children or experiences we’ve dealt with in life. It’s our natural ability to protect ourselves from threats, but it’s what we “think” are threats that are causing us to worry. Some things warrant worry, like a child riding their bike in the freeway without a helmet, this is a high risk situation that would warrant fear as it is likely the child will get hurt. Change that situation to the child riding their bike on the sidewalk to the park with a helmet on and the risk of injury is low, yet, the worry (or belief system) is still the same. The fear the child may get hurt.
It is said that the more we worry (and share that worry with others) the more we create an environment that believes that these threats are always high risk and these beliefs may then be passed on to others in our homes (children), our community and worst yet, the world we live in.
Professionals in the health and wellness industry suggest we evaluate the risk of a situation based upon a number of factors such as reliability, validity and factorial structure. How reliable is the source of our fear, what validates the fear and what factors (data) support the fear? Assessing the situation and understanding the risks will help validate the need to worry.
Here is a great article about the evolution of anxiety:
