‘Fear of Death’ Essay by 12 year old Samyukta S B from Bangalore
Hello there! My name is Samyukta. Did you know that every animal or human has fears?
There are so many fears in the world. Social phobia viz self- consciousness in front of people while performing, also known as stage fright, is the most common fear among people. I am here to share my experience on how I overcame my fear.
I am thirteen now. But for years I have had three main fears-
1. Fear of my death (and people who are close to me)
2. Fear of Height
3. Stage fright
The fear of death scared me most. I will share about how I overcame it.
Fear of death can drive people crazy. In my case, I could not sleep in the nights. I used to stay awake until 2’o clock and then slowly fall asleep. Some days I used to panic so badly I used to not even leave my room. This fear also increased my screen time. I used to look into a screen for about 12 hours or so. I always had a phone, a tab or a computer with me. I watched in the night time too because it helped me sleep. This was because the device diverted me from the fear. I had this fear for about 3 – 4 years.
Since I used to watch electronic devices day and night, my eyes were strained. I used to end up sleeping in my classes because I used to be awake all night long. One day I told my mom about my fear. She was surprised that I had this big a fear.
So first my mom banned me from using any electronics for a week. Then she explained to me, the meaning of life and death. She said, “Life is a cycle that needs to be ended. Death just ends that cycle. After that you will be free. Everybody’s life has a purpose. After it’s done a person decides to leave.”
After that she told me to take a nap and played music so I would go to sleep. But I could not go to sleep. The fear of death kept hitting me, and I kept thinking “When will this fear leave me?” My mom came back and slept with me. After I woke up, I felt much better. But I still had the fear. That night my mother made me meditate, so that would take the stress out of my body and I could sleep peacefully. The next morning the fear came back. My mother told me that this was the way I would conquer my fears.
For two more days, the fear kept decreasing. Finally after one week, I was free from the fear of death. I felt happy, free and protected. I was now able to sleep without any fear and did not need any electronics. I learnt that we should not try and avoid our fears but look into them and find out the cause of the fear and then we have to conquer it. Tell someone you trust who will help you conquer your fears. I share my story so that the people who read my story can
also learn how to conquer their fears.
