Test Yourself

In this list you will discover the fears that trouble you, and set about removing them.

Every human being is liable to fear in one situation or another; and although courage is born of fear, many of our fears inspire no courage at all—rather, they destroy our strength and shatter our nerves.

There are six basic kinds of fear, and the most harmful is the fear of fear itself, which is added to those we have mentioned. Psychologists have found that most of the fears that accompany us have seeped into our souls from the age of childhood, and so educators today work to eradicate them. Fear can likewise be uprooted from the souls of grown persons, by understanding it in view of its connection with body and mind together. In the list are two letters: (T) meaning true and (F) meaning false. Look through it and judge to which category your fears belong.

1 - This person: — T — — F —

is extreme in both extravagance and stinginess
fears for his position, and so never feels settled
laments what is past, and attacks people
makes a god of wealth and possessions

2 - As for this one:

he is tormented by cowardice and panic
he is troubled by a feeling of superiority or inferiority to others
he forever feels the prickings of conscience
he believes that others doubt what he says

3 - And this one as well:

tries new foods
talks a great deal about operations and matters of health
fears germs, and avoids visiting the sick
is thrown into agitation by fear of pains, and dreads undergoing them

4 - There is another:

who is torn apart by envy and jealousy
always feels deprived
gambles, against what his will and conscience dictate
digs for faults, and levels false accusations

5 - While this one: — T — — F —

thinks of old age and dreads it
tries to cling to vigor and youth
allows himself slackness and laziness
excuses himself on account of his years
hates himself and his looks

6 - And another:

thinks of death and the dead
loses his enthusiasm for undertaking any activity
avoids the sick and the aged
is stricken at times by "melancholy"

7 - And finally this one:

thinks of every kind of calamity
goes to extremes of impressionability and emotion
his voice quavers and his heart pounds when he is afraid
he grows dizzy and his nerves knot up at a surprise
he cannot control his senses

If you find an abundance of marks in category (1), then you fear poverty, and you allow this fear to cripple your thinking and your enthusiasm and to strip away your gaiety; once you know the cause, you can weigh your feelings and take command of them. If your concern is confined to category (2), you are allowing the fear of criticism to hinder your enjoyment of life; so think with your mind, not your emotion, in order to remove this obstacle. Category (3), however, indicates that you are prey to the fear of illness; if you do not give up dwelling on your weakness, what you dread will come upon you—and the reverse is likewise true—so keep company with joy and health. In section (4) you show that you are agitated and afraid of losing some love—and fear of a thing brings its happening nearer.

If category (5) has caught your eye, you are one of the multitudes who dread advancing in years—and nothing hastens old age more than thinking about it. In category (6) it appears that you live under the specter of death, which is bound to pay its visit to everyone; let us await it with reason and calm, and look upon it as a natural event, a part that completes life—a friend, not an enemy. We come to the last category (7), which indicates that you dread fear itself, and the sensation that steals into you the moment you take fright.

Overcome all this by building a sound body, and a spirit that draws you away from the negative and nearer to the positive, so that you may continue your march through life with courage and daring.