Fearanditscompanionpainaretwoofthemostusefulthingsthatmanandanimalspossessiftheyareused. Iffiredidnthurtwhenitburned, childrenwouldplaywithituntiltheirhandswereburnedaway. Similarly, ifpainexistedbutfeardidnt, achildcouldburnitselfagainandagainbecausefearwouldnotwarnittokeepawayfromthefirethathadburntitbefore. Areallyfearlesssoldierandsomedoexistisnotagoodsoldierbecauseheissoonkilled; andadeadsoldierisofnousetohisarmy. Fearandpainarethereforetwoguardswithoutwhichmanandanimalsmightsoondieout.
Inourfirstsentencewesuggestedthatfearoughttobeproperlyused. If, forexample, younevergooutofyourhousebecauseofthedangerofbeingknockeddownandkilledinthestreetbyacar, youarelettingfearruleyoutoomuch. Theimportantthingisnottoletfearruleyou, butinstead, tousefearasyourservantandguide. Fearwillwarnyouofdangers; thenyouhavetodecidewhatactiontotake.
Inmanycases, youcantakequickandsuccessfulactiontoavoidthedanger. Forexample, youseeacarcomingstraighttowardsyou; fearwarnsyou, youjumpoutoftheway, andalliswell.
Insomecases, however, youdecidethatthereisnothingthatyoucandotoavoidthedanger. Forexample, youcannotpreventanairplanecrashingintoyourhouse, andyoumaynotwanttogoandliveinadesertwheretherearenoairplanes. Inthiscase, fearhasgivenyouitswarning, youhaveexamineditanddecidedonyourcourseofaction, sofearoftheparticulardangerisnolongerofanyusetoyou, andyouhavetotrytoovercomeit.
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