Psychology Today | 24.12.2025 02:34
Appropriate fear is aimed at the object or event we are afraid of: for instance, fear of a rattlesnake about to attack us. Our response to appropriate fear is to flee, fight, freeze, or appease. If what we fear is something we can't change, we accept that fact and the uncertainty of the outcome. We accept that we don’t have control, and we trust that our inner resources will kick in when the outcome occurs. To deal with the immediate fear, we take three deep breaths, and with each breath we say: “Yes to what is and what might be.” This is an acceptance of the known fact as well as the as yet unknown outcome. We hold our hand warmly and gently on the part of our body where we feel the anxiety, e.g., the stomach or throat.
