Journal prompts for facing your fears.

Fears. We all have them, and we all have to face them sooner or later.

Some people are plagued with fears that interfere with their ability to live a normal and healthy life. Others dance around their fears, cleverly avoiding those things that give them a nervous twitch. Still more people simply live day to day with minor, almost meaningless fears that are a source of mild irritation.

But how often do we sit down and ask ourselves what am I truly afraid of and why?

Today’s journal prompts might not get you over your fears, but they will certainly make you more aware of them and how they might be benefiting you or holding you back.

Fear and Courage

Fears can be vast and numerous. Some fears seem silly, such as fear of tiny spiders. Others are somewhat reasonable, like fear of war or death. And there are many more fears in between — fears that are rational, irrational, dangerous, or helpful.

You could boil all fears down into two types: those that protect us and those that inhibit us. Perhaps a third type could have no real impact whatsoever.

The fears that protect us keep us safe from danger. When you’re walking alone down a dark street and hear a rustle in some nearby bushes, your fear might prompt you to cross to the other side of the street. Fears like these keep us safe, so we should heed them.

But the other fears — the ones that inhibit us — those are the ones that we can work on overcoming. We can identify them, analyze them, and finally, dismiss them and move past with a brave smile — the smile of victory.

Journal Prompts

Today’s journal prompts ask you to examine your fears. You don’t need to face them (yet). You just need to identify them and ask yourself a few questions about why you’ve acquired them and how they affect your life and your goals.

This exercise might make you a little nervous, depending on how deep your fears run and how willing you are to dig within yourself to unearth the smallest or greatest of your fears.

As you work through these prompts, remember that courage is not the absence of fear; it’s the willingness to face fear head-on.

1. What are five things that make you nervous or uncomfortable?
2. What is it about each of those five things that bothers you?
3. Where does this discomfort come from?
4. Write down one thing that truly terrifies you. Is it keeping you safe or preventing you from living the life you want?
5. How likely is it that you will encounter this thing?
6. Why are you so frightened of this thing?
7. If you did encounter this thing, what would happen next?

Try to put on a brave face as you work through these journal prompts. Good luck, and keep writing!

Got any ideas for more journal prompts? Post them in the comments!