WHEN CALLED UPON TO SERVE.......

It's not always that when one is called upon to serve one accepts. In cases though where you know deep within that  not only do you have the knowledge and skill to make a significant difference in the lives of others but that failing to accept that offer would result in you not forgiving yourself if the person you could have saved happens to be one of your own. In that case, the answer is clear! Get up off your comfort zone and do what is required.

Throughout the Caribbean and indeed as far off as Vietnam, Europe and the United States of America, my Blog has touched the lives of many whom I have never met, but who have written thanking me for touching their lives in some small way, and it is in this context that I propose to refer employees of the Ministry of Food Production to my blog in the hope that this totally anonymous forum will be of some small assistance as we travel along the EAP together.

My topic today is Fear.

How often have we heard Counselors ask their clients to "talk it out" and sure enough when they do they find that the answer was staring them right in the face; but because they were too close to the problem they just could not see it. Or how often have we doubted that "prayer changes things" only to have a "miracle" open up for us after we have taken that plunge and prayed sincerely- crying out to the God of our understanding for a reprieve.

Fear is one of the most crippling of emotions that anyone can experience and the psychological term "fight or flight response" is instructive in most cases where persons are unable to find answers to simple problems.

According to Kendra Cherry the main approach used within health psychology is known as the bio-social model where it is touted that illness and health are the result of a combination of biological, psychological and social factors. Biological factors include inherited personality traits and genetic conditions. Psychological factors involve lifestyle, personality characteristics and stress levels. Social factors include such things as social support systems, family relationships and cultural beliefs.

Many times during conversations with "clients" I draw upon my own very wide experiences to emphasize a point I wish to make and "fear" of the unknown is one such area with which I am quite familiar. Fear can cause you to have anxiety attacks, where your breathing problems leave you paralyzed, and almost always there is no need for that fear response. Perhaps this anecdote will prove my point.

As a child of perhaps twelve or thirteen , I arrived at school only to be told by a fellow student that Father Knox wanted to see me in his office right away. Which Knox I wanted to know, as Father Knolly Knox was  noted for his leather strap but I had so far only heard that Father Ian Knox was worse than Father Knolly. Imagine my state of mind when I was told it was Father Ian Knox! 

Reluctantly I walked towards the feared office and stood uncertainly outside the closed door for quite a while. When his door opened I braced myself for the inevitable chastisement only to be greeted with a smile and a " Master Ribeiro, a student found your pen and left it here with me". My pen was a special gift with my name engraved so I was pleased to get it back but I also felt very foolish at my fight or flight response, more flight than fight though.

Suffice it to say, but that was a lesson well learned and very few and far between did any situation ever hold such terror for me after that. Our experiences are usually what help us along the way as we shoulder responsibilities or face life on its own terms. When next you are faced with a situation ask yourself if dealing with the situation head-on would not be better than running away from it, for certainly you will have to deal with it at some time later down the road.