Prologue: Misperceptions Based on Fear

Fear is alarming. It’s the presence of the unknown that drives us to be unsure of the future, unsure of how our lives will unfold in the time to come.

Fear is not the same as danger. What may be one of the most powerful of human emotions, in fact, cannot hurt us whatsoever. Unlike fear, danger is real. Imminent, living danger can hurt us. Fear is simply the state of not being sure of what is to come.

FEAR = False Expectations Appearing Real

Fear can be broken down. The unknown can be broken down with knowledge and empowerment. It makes sense – if we knew what would happen in the time to come, perhaps we would not be afraid of the future. With knowledge, attitudes can change, and widespread fear can evolve into a community of understanding. Fear, in fact, can be used as an acronym explaining what it means in simple terms:

F – FALSE, False information, fabrication, artificial truths, incorrect evidence, and misdirection.

E – EXPECTATIONS, Appearing real, what the community expects and what is held in the thoughts or consciousness becomes the real experience or reality.

A – APPEARING, One needs to see the fear for what it really is-a thought or a collection of thoughts about the still-to-happen-future that make an individual feel a certain way

R – REAL, Fear consists of a collection of thoughts based upon what we have experienced in the past and based upon what one thinks will happen in the future.

Fear can paralyze our ability to process experiences or information correctly. In other words, we are so afraid of what is to come that when we digest information, we ignore it due to the overarching fear of a dismal outcome. This information, however, is crucially important as it educates us on why our fears are not rational in the given moment and why they are a poor use of time and energy.

Misperceptions Based on Fear

Fear is an opportunity. Like many things, fear is not completely bad. Overcoming fear is about addressing the misperceptions of the future by transforming these beliefs into affirmative attitudes that are readily looking forward to the future. It’s about coming together as one people, one community, and one collection of citizens who care about where they live and the future of housing to come.

We are, Rockford.