The voice of fear in your head exists to keep you safe. It’s not concerned with accuracy. In fact, in its goal to keep you safe, it will outright lie to you.
It won’t even just lie about what might happen. It will lie about what is happening, right now. It will do this because the fear voice wants you to take it seriously, and it’s willing to do anything it can for that to happen.
Fear will make pain hurt worse than it does. If you’re afraid, small nicks will feel like deep wounds and light taps feel like severe blows. The physical damage is the same, but being terrified makes it seem much worse. The fear voice is amplifying your pain – it’s saying “See?! What did I tell you?! You should have listened to me and run!!”
In the moment, this clarity might not help much. But fear is weakest when it’s dormant, and during that time you can build dams against it. You can be aware that this will happen and gird yourself with mantras to remind you. The next time you’re afraid to go to the dentist because it’s going to hurt, just remember – it’s the fear that’s making it hurt. Lessen the fear, and the same physical sensation will be far more mild.
The Opportunity Machine 