CONSCIOUS PARENTING
CHOICE POINT:
FEAR FREEZES OR FREES
HUMAN POTENTIAL
Strategies for Children to Understand Fear
by Janai ‘Grandma Boom’ Mestrovich
I will take you on a journey of my childhood fear into managing it
as an adult. Then I have some great tips on how to help children
develop healthy patterns of dealing with fear. Harnessing the
awareness and tools at a young age gives children a boost
for higher consciousness and understanding about their own
empowerment.
S
ome childhood events were traumatizing but provided empowering lessons. I was nine when I was playing
outside one summer evening. Dad
was working just outside the basement door. I ran into the basement
in the dusk light to get something,
a toy. It was darker in the basement than outside,
and objects were hard to distinguish, but I was in
too big a hurry to turn on the light.
A dark figure a foot high was suddenly in front of
me. It made a hissing noise and drew closer. I froze.
A snake. Every part of me was frozen stiff with fear
and I could not make my voice call for Dad. Still
hissing, the snake jumped closer. I could barely hop back because of my stiffened body. Again,
the snake moved closer. I hopped back. This
happened several times as the fear continued to
choke my mobility. Finally, I managed to scream,
“DADDDDDDD!”
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In an instant, Dad appeared. I was still frozen. He
grabbed a hoe and struck the snake several times,
making sure it could not move. Then he asked me if
I was all right. He turned on the basement light and
discovered it was a poisonous copperhead snake.
My own fear made me vulnerable to a near-fatal
bite. I knew there must be a way to win the war
against fear. Growing into my twenties, biofeedback, self-calming relaxation skills and human potential workshops allowed me to advance in emotional intelligence and self-control.
The greatest test demonstrating a landmark of not
allowing fear to immobilize me came in my mid fifties. I went for a walk up the mountain. I walked up
a steep incline on a dirt-logging road and reached
the small plateau at the top. I stopped, and there,
not fifteen yards in front of me was a wildcat. It
looked to be sniffing, hunting for food. He did not
see me behind him. A lightning bolt of fear shot
from my feet through my head. I was downwind,
so he could not smell my fear.