The witch doctor spat to the sides, to the front and to the back then after a few moments of closed-eyes incantation, he stared into your face and spat the remainder of the betel juice left in his mouth before declaring that the evil spirit had been banished. He handed you a nail and told you to drive it into the floorboard in your kitchen. As long as you have faith, he said, your toothache will be gone forever.
You paid him 50-ringgit, carefully tucked the nail into your pocket and drove home. Your tooth ached so bad you saw double everything, but that’s all right because your houses were now only plus minus ten yards ahead. The car shuddered to a stop right in front of your doorsteps. The throbbing in your head made your hurried steps to the kitchen a little less than straight. It took you ten minutes to find the hammer, but by God, when you finally had it, it took no more than five seconds and a sore thumb to hit that nail flat into the floorboard.
You waited, and yes, the pain disappeared. It was amazing. Immediately you got online and twittered about the miracle. You even wondered why the world needs dentists in Facebook. You felt good and each time you experienced a throbbing, you put it down to exhaustion, the hot day, your spouse’s lousy cooking etc. etc. The existence of the bad tooth was ignored.
Your chin began to swell, your mouth began to smell, you have longer sick days and your blood-shot eyes bulged, but each time your spouse tells you to go to the dentist you snapped, accusing her or him of trying to nullify the charm.
You may insist that you are nothing like this, but are you sure? Think about it. Is there anything negative in your life that you deny? Your health, your debts, your job or your friends. Even the most rational among us will fall into the habit of using good luck charms or a lucky pen when we are confronted with our fears. All of these are in fact nothing more than the security blanket we used to have as a child.
It is not wrong to desire help from a higher power outside of ourselves, but when that desire begins to take hold of our life and we let it continue on its path to self-destruction, then it is time to redefine that ‘security-blanket’.
A lucky pen only works if you have studied and done your research work. A pair of lucky football boots can only help you kick the winning goal only after you have trained enough. The same goes for our health, we need to eat and live healthy, in order to stay healthy. Ultimately, we have to decide what the best course of action is. Usually, it is our own fear and paranoia that keep us paralyzed in place, so the only person in the world who can exorcise that fear is us. In fact, the moment you experience the fear and self-doubt, you should start to question if the methods you have relied on up till now need to be changed. That is because fear is usually a catalyst for change as it usually means that something is not right (-this is in no way related to phobia).
Start by thinking about what you fear but need to do. You don’t have to do anything first, just think about it. Think about how you would feel after you have done it. Then slowly make a list of things you have to do to get to that point. Need a better job, but believe that you are not qualified for anything? Make a list of things that will make you more qualified, then decide how you can get to that point.
You can’t jump from start to finish in one lunge. There is no such thing. You have to take things one step at a time. Once you have completed one step, another opportunity will naturally open itself to you. Take for example the guy who is terrified of dentists. After he had been to one he may learn that dentists are not as heartless as he expects them to be, and that after that his head doesn’t hurt anymore. Isn’t that worth exorcising his fear for?
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