Tiger

Imagine a painter sitting in his studio. He has a large canvas in front of him. Colors and brushes are spread across his workspace. With passionate strokes, he carefully paints a tiger hiding in tall grass. Once the artist is done, he takes a step back to admire his work. However, upon seeing the predator he had created, he jumps up and runs away in fear.

What are your initial thoughts on this painter?

Is he a fool? He ran away from something that came from his own imagination! Surely, he should know the tiger he just painted would not eat him, right?

Could it be that we are all like this painter, running in fear of things we create ourselves?

It seems that fear is based on imagination and projection. Here are two examples to illustrate this statement:

Picture yourself having to cross a thin beam that is lying on the ground. Without hesitation, you would walk across it. Now imagine that beam is 30 meters above the ground. The wind is swirling around your ears. Far beneath you are houses the size of coins. One wrong step could cause your death. Would you still be able to cross the beam without breaking a sweat? Probably not. The hairs on your neck would stand up, and your knees would start shaking.

Now, most of you readers might not be crossing soaring beams regularly, so here’s a more relatable example: You’re talking with a friend about a book you just read. You did not prepare for the conversation, and yet you are able to talk fluently and passionately about the story. Now, instead of talking in a private conversation, place yourself in front of your class, giving a presentation about that same book. Imagine this presentation determines whether you must repeat the entire school year or advance to the next grade. All your classmates are watching you, and your teacher is eagerly waiting for a mistake to make you fail your class.

What changed in the second scenario of both these examples that could make you fearful?

    - Your projection of the future.

It is your understanding of the situation and your imagined projection of the future. Falling from a beam 30 meters in the air would result in death. Messing up a book presentation in front of your class could be embarrassing and result in repeating the school year. Believing in the reality of these consequences instills fear in our hearts, regardless of whether they are true or not.

I believe it is important to be able to differentiate between the artist running from a real fear based on an imagined consequence and the man on the beam who is teasing death. We don’t want to suppress fear, for it warns us of danger. We want to recognize it and then control it to act rationally and courageously.

What if we find we are the painter running from our own tiger? How can we deal with fear once we have established it is not based on danger and must be overcome? Embracing it and exposing oneself to it will build courage… After the painter’s heart rate slows down, he can peek through the window of his studio and see that the tiger remains on the wall. He can carefully open the door and step into the room. He will recognize that the predator is, in fact, not real. He can finally stand proudly in front of his masterpiece, having conquered his fear. Then, once he sets up his next canvas, he can begin sketching a lion.