Fear and being afraid

Fear is a noun. We usually use the adjective afraid to talk about the feeling that fear creates. In Spanish we say tengo miedo, but in English we usually say I'm afraid. As in, I'm afraid of spiders.

Some people have a lot of fears (spiders, snakes, tall buildings, elevators, flying, etc.) and others only have a few. I think most people are afraid of something.

The other day one of my students was saying that she was afraid to post a comment here because she might make a mistake. This didn't surprise me because many people (including me) don't want to make mistakes and feel embarrassed. But the truth is that I make mistakes every day and nothing terrible happens. Sometimes people correct me, sometimes not. As a foreigner living here, mistakes are 100% guaranteed! I appreciate the generosity of people who help me to learn, even if I feel embarrassed in the moment.

People who take risks, even small ones, really inspire me. Maybe they're afraid, but they continue anyway, and this is the important part.

Here's a video of people talking about their greatest fears. Some of the people are easy to understand and some are almost impossible!



As always, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts about this.