Expat Women - Motivational - Living Courageously In An Economic Crisis

•	How many of these dangers are actual dangers - they pose an imminent threat?

•	Which of these dangers is your personal responsibility to solve?

•	Are global or community dangers being taken care of correctly?

•	How do we decide?

Does Passing On The Message Of Fear Help?

The purpose of fear is to alarm us to potential unknown dangers. Amanda Ripley in her book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why (2008), describes the physiology of how our survival mode works when we face danger. Our bodies' automatic and natural reactions are to:

•	Stop thinking – tunnel vision - just react.

•	Produce adrenaline and cortisol – hormones from the hypothalamus.

•	Increase our heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and metabolism.

•	Increase the blood flow to large muscles.

•	Increase the ability for blood coagulation to reduce bleeding if injured.

•	Dilate our pupils.

•	Release stored glucose from the liver.

•	Conserve bodily energy – decrease digestion, saliva, bladder control, and/or

•	Increase sweating and reduce the body's temperature.

When we cannot resolve potentially dangerous issues over long periods, fear levels become so high that the fear "numbs out" our warning system. Our natural protective system becomes incapable of accurately interpreting danger or protecting us. Instead it begins screaming like a malfunctioning smoke alarm. We can no longer rationally resolve situations. We are instead filled with panic. Collective or free floating fear (fear of fear itself) can spread and become a behavioral norm both individually and socially. Fear mongering or the spreading of discreditable, misrepresentative information designed to induce fear and apprehension is both a result of and a cause of collective fear. This results in the break down of our ability to respond functionally and appropriately to a given situation.

The World Stood Still

Last September, the financial world stood still trying to understand the unfathomable meaning of the world financial crisis. There was already a collective underlying fear of looming dangers from unknown terrorists lurking everywhere. Who of us knows how to handle those dangers, much less resolve a financial crisis? Like all animals, we look to our "herd leaders" for direction. First and foremost, we need answers to one of the three following questions before we know which action to take.

•	Is it known but not dangerous? (We know how to handle it)

•	Is it unknown and possibly dangerous? (We have to think of something new)

•	Is it known and dangerous? (We need to fight, flee, or freeze)

Unfortunately when we have looked to our "herd leaders" for direction in this world financial crisis we have received every possible combination of answers to the three questions above. Many of us are still in a freeze mode waiting to see which direction to turn. If you are a deer perhaps freezing is a good protective hiding strategy and can be the best survival method. But as a human being, long term freezing allows fear to guide your choices. In this case there is a huge risk that the strategies you grasp will not resolve your situation. This gives fear the role as decider.

There is a terrible cost of long lasting and exaggerated fear, such as:

•	Excessive and long term fear can transform and modify a person's behavior permanently.

•	Fear of fear can become the focus and we loose sight of chances to take control of what is possible.

•	Long term fear is known to be a factor in some immune system diseases.

•	The focus and emphasis on fear by governments or communities can lead to other important and fundamental programs being ignored. For example, one reason that Hurricane Katrina resulted in a long term disaster was due to a lack of focus on real and well documented dangers, due to the fear that there could be another terrorist attack on the U.S. Many more people died unnecessarily due to Katrina because the focus was on free floating national fear of terrorism interrupting action on other important national problems.

The Good News

How can we resist panic and use fear's natural and positive mechanism to remind us we have: heard, felt, seen, smelled or intuited something that just needs our attention? Ripley says the good news is; we can learn how to improve our ability to handle danger. Through training, it is believed that our brain can literally transform in structure and function. As animals we have a natural survival instinct to cope with the unknown: take notice, assess, and take action through fight, flight or freeze/hide mode.

Transforming Energy from Fear to Courage

The important question is how to get back in charge of the process of deciding. The first step is getting a hold of your courage. Courage is the act of facing something that is beyond your comfort zone. Once you have stood your ground and faced your discomfort or fears you have already transformed your energy possibilities from fear to courage. Courage then becomes an energy resource to resolve the following fear developing elements instead of them becoming refueling cycle of fear.

•	Lack of knowledge.

•	False information and myths.

•	Hot Words" and catastrophic self talk".

•	Tunnel vision, and/or

•	Feeling helpless and hopeless.

Whether your fear is caused by losing your job, facing a new culture, fear of flying, or the world financial crisis, there are some common steps you can take to put yourself back into the position as decider over your life choices. The good news is that if fear of the present economic crisis begins to creep under your skin and cause your fear bells to ring, you can still take charge of your situation and make the best of it.

Reach into your courage locker and pluck out your courage, by:

•	Facing your fear.

•	Managing fear- inducing words ("hot words") and thinking.

•	Asking questions and finding out information from credible experts.

•	Replacing old myths and misinformation.

•	Assessing the reality of the danger, then deciding for yourself.

•	Getting the specific kind of support you need.

•	Setting realistic and achievable goals, and

•	Using relaxation breathing to physically remind your body that you are in charge.

So the next time you feel fear raise its ugly head take the opportunity to grab your courage, and pass it forward. Claim your courage! Choose three people that you believe can benefit from your story of trading courage for fear and pass courage forward. When we open ours eyes to seeing courage being passed forward, it is all around us.

Robin Fay-McNair, M.Sc. , is a pilot, coach and therapist. She runs a coaching program for expatriates, Courage to Try Your Wings. Robin encourages you to use your courage to step out of your comfort zone – and make the most of your expat experience. http://www.couragetofly.com

Expat Women: Motivational

Living Courageously In An Economic Crisis