Joseph Smith said: “I have reason to think that the Church is being purged…So long as men are under the law of God, they have no fears. DHC 6:477. Most fears… do not, as a rule, just happen. We nurse them and feed them until, from as inconsequential trifle, they have grown to monstrous proportions… A young man told me that he could not sleep. He gave me along psychological explanation of how this had come about, “Can you help me get rid of this obsession?” he asked. “No,” was my reply. “Then what can I do?” he implored. “Run around the block at night until you are ready to drop. What you need is exertion. You have put too much of your physical energies into imagining things. If you run hard enough, you will automatically relax and go to sleep. You have thought yourself into this fear with your mind, you can run yourself out of it with your legs” – and he did… It is true that many people who are obsessed by nagging fears might find a new interest in life if they became concerned about other people through participating in community activities. Every step in the conquest of fear requires, at the outset, an act of will… As Emerson said, do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain. Actually our fears are the forces that make us, when dealt with by decisive action, or that break us if dealt with by indecision [or] procrastination… at the bottom of most fears, both mild and severe, will be found an overactive mind and an underactive body.
Hence, I have advised many people, in their quest for happiness, to use their heads less and their arms and legs more – in useful work or play. We generate fears while we sit; we overcome them by action. Fear is nature’s warning signal to get busy. In its mild and initial stages, fear takes the form of… criticism of, certain activities and people… The world is full of malcontents… who, because they will not change themselves, talk about changing the entire system… Through conversation they rationalize their anger with the world, instead of becoming enraged with themselves and flying into worthwhile action. Henry C. Link, PhD, Getting the Most Out of Life, p. 85-88.
Normal Vincent Peale: You were not born with the worry habit. You acquired it. Worry… is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning “to choke.” If someone were to put his fingers around your throat and press hard, cutting off the flow of vital power, it would be a dramatic demonstration of what you do to yourself by long- held and habitual worry… Fear is the most powerful of all thoughts with one exception, and the one exception is faith. Faith can always overcome fear. Faith is the one power against which fear cannot stand… Master faith and you will automatically master fear… Fear something over a long period of time and there is a real possibility that by fearing you may actually help bring it to pass. The Bible contains a line which is… terrible in its truth: “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me.” Job 3:25. Of course it will, for if you fear something continuously you tend to create conditions in your mind propitious to the development of that which you fear. An atmosphere is encouraged in which it can take root and grow. You ten to draw it to yourself. The Power of Positive Thinking, p. 122-26.
Let us recognize that fear comes not of God, but rather that this gnawing, destructive element comes from the adversary of truth and righteousness. Fear is the antithesis of faith. It is corrosive in its effects, even deadly. Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, p. 220)
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