FREE ESSAY ON A CAUSE FOR VIOLENT PROTEST

A CAUSE FOR VIOLENT PROTEST

Fear
Every person, everywhere, with no exceptions has experienced fear. Fear, to be afraid,
has hit us all, whether it was fear of failing, or fear for your own personal safety.
Fear is what keeps us on our alert edge. It kept you from jumping off the high dive when
you were a child for fear you would get injured, and it kept you up late studying for
fear of failing. It is the realization of consequences in the immediate or distant
future. 
There are many forms of fear and we benefit from all of them. It never makes you do
anything you do not want to do, and gets the consequences going through your head. Fear
of failure in our classroom makes us work harder, and fear of dying on the beaches of
Normandy made soldiers run that much faster. Fear is what keeps us on our toes. I know it
changed my life tremendously on one occasion, and saved my life on another. Fear of
failing English 1301 has me glued too my chair when all of my friends are mountain
biking. 
At the age of seventeen, I was more concerned about having a good time then worrying
about school. The result of this of course, was my dropping out of school. It took me
only one day to realize what I had done. What was a seventeen-year-old drop out going to
do? I sank into a major depression when I realized the severity of what I had done was.
The first concern for my future arose, and the fear of it. I was on a nowhere road with
no exits unless I did something drastic to change myself. One week later, fear of failure
had me on a plane with a destination of Fort Benning, Georgia. It had driven me to enlist
in the Army.
Fear for my own personal safety saved my life one windy day in the Mojave Desert. My
squad was sent to desert warfare school in Fort Irwin. The Battalion Commander decided it
would be necessary to insert my team by means of parachute for reconnaissance on enemy
movement. When the time came for me to jump out of the C-130 Hercules, I yelled, "Rangers
Lead the Way!" and started my descent. I counted to three and only felt a small jerk. I
looked up and saw the parachute had been fused closed. Without thinking I immediately
pulled my reserve and pushed out its risers, only for it rocket up and wrap around my
main, which stopped it from being completely, deployed. My natural reaction was to look
down, the ground screamed toward me at an incredible rate, I did not want to die, and the
fear of death shot throughout me. It was this fear that took over and started throwing
off weight. I cut off my rucksack, my weapon, and my low bearing vest, then it steered me
the best it could into a patch of bushes below me that turned out to be a tree. It took
me two days to finally remember what I had done because I had done it so fast and without
thinking. With the help of fear I cheated death that day, and only suffered two
dislocated kneecaps, a twisted back, twisted neck, and broken sternum. 
Fear is not just an emotion, it is a tool as well. Dog owner's use it when they post
their "Beware of Dog" signs to ward off any thieves. In Desert Storm the Allied Forces
dropped millions of flyers over Iraqi positions telling them how to surrender to the
technologically advanced army that was approaching them. Needless to say, this method of
widespread fear caused panic, resulting in success and saving thousands of lives. During
the dark ages, churches were not made to be peaceful looking in appearance, but rather
intimidating. Churches had gargoyles on all sides of them, showing people what would come
for them if they deified Christianity. Using it as a tool such as in this case kept
people fearful of God's wrath. 
Fear, although annoying at times, is an emotion and a tool that helps us all. It helps us
in decision-making and generally steers us in the right direction. Most people do despise
this emotion, and will not attempt anything or take any chance voluntarily that would
provoke this emotion. What is not realized is that this is another one of the many
emotions that make us human, and experiencing them makes us who we are. It plays a major
role in our everyday lives.