We are born to achieve great things but fear holds us back

“The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear,” Nelson Mandela once said.

When you let go of your fears, you will discover what you’re really capable of. When we are young, it could be fear of trivial things such as insects or even the dark. When we get older, it can transform into bigger phenomenon such as fear of public speaking or simply interacting with people. The result is low self-esteem and lack of confidence. We must overcome fear in every stage of life in order to reach heights we never knew we were capable of reaching.

“I’m afraid of the swing,” 5-year-old *Abdul Rahman tells his teacher Ms. Hanouf at Future Experts Kindergarten, as he briskly walks away from the playground. Here, she shares how she dealt with the issue.

Every time the class would go out to play on the swing, Abdul Rahman would never join them. He would sit in solitude in the other corner. So one day I decided it was time to make him face his fears. I asked him to come sit on the swing with me and it was perfectly safe. It took a while to convince him but he agreed. I moved the swing very slowly at first so he wouldn’t get scared. 

When I began to push the swing a little faster, he became anxious and frightened. I told him I was with him on the swing and he had nothing to fear. We also asked a friend of his to join us. When he saw both of us with him, he started to relax.

The next day, we tried out the same experiment. Abdul Rahman was reluctant at first, but when his friends came and sat with us, he was at ease. I started to push it faster and saw him hold his breath. I kept looking at him and told him there was nothing to be scared of because everyone was there with him. 

Before I knew it, he was laughing out loud and enjoying the swing with the rest of the kids! That’s how Abdul Rahman faced his fear of the swing and it soon became his favourite ride.

Days later, when I saw him playing on the swing, he called out to me and asked to push it as fast as I could!

Another case of low confidence was of a 4-year-old boy named *Mohaned. He was scared to write – he thought he wasn’t good enough and others would make fun of him. When one of his teacher’s wrote an assignment on the board, he started crying saying, “I won’t be able to do it – I can’t do it.” 

I sat down with him and told him there was no need to be anxious. I told him to write whatever he felt like writing and that he could do anything he set his mind on.

Words of encouragement go a long way with children. I kept motivating Mohaned and he ultimately was the first to complete the assignment.

As a teacher, I feel it’s imperative to push children positively to build their confidence. Everyone is conscious whether it’s an adult or a child. When someone motivates us and tells us ‘we can do it’, we will feel like we can.

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the children.