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I found this online while browsing through the vast web called the "internet" and thought it was pretty neat.

Fear is a question: what are you afraid of and why? Just as the seed of health is in illness, because illness contains information, your fears are a treasure house of self-knowledge if you explore them.” This quote was said by Marilyn Ferguson, an American author and public speaker. She's right. If you really take a look at your fears, you learn how to overcome them, and in turn, you learn more about yourself. Many ideas and emotions have evolved over the years, but the definition of “fear” has always remained relatively the same.

Fear is an emotion that is deeply ingrained into the human psyche. People experience fear for one general reason: they sense impending danger, whether it's real or not. Some experts even believe that fear was the first instinct to have developed. This idea makes sense, seeing as fear is actually a component of survival. The mind feels fear of impending danger, and the body responds by taking steps to stay out of danger.

At this point you may be thinking, huh? But what is the actual definition of “fear?” The dictionary definition of fear is “an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” This definition may seem a bit long, but my definition is simple: fear is a feeling of uneasiness or dread associated with a certain event, idea, or thing. These definitions are equally correct, but one cannot deny that fear is both simple and complex at the same time. It is simple because the process of feeling fear is simple. At the same time, it is complex because the reasons for fearing something are complex.

Many people associate fear with a negative connotation. Typically, when someone thinks of the word, “fear,” they think of ditzy teenagers going into an abandoned house and being cut down, one by one, or monsters lurking in the shadows on the outskirts of your vision. Unfortunately, most people don't realize that there is actually a positive aspect to fear. Fear can be a good motivational technique; many parents used to frighten their children with ideas such as the bogeyman in order to discourage them from going to dangerous places or doing bad things.
Some people, myself included, find that being afraid can actually be fun. For example, most people hate scary movies, but if you're like me, you love the rush of being afraid. While many people hate the suspenseful moments, I love the thrill of not knowing the outcome of what will happen. Will the confused tourists escape the mad scientist before he turns them into a human centipede? Can the group of stranded strangers defend themselves against a horde of flesh-eating zombies long enough for help to arrive? This exciting fear of the unknown is almost like jumping into a lake without testing the water temperature; either the water is just right and you can swim around for a while, or the cold hits you like a bullet and you have to claw your way to shore before you get hypothermia. In that sense, when you deal with the unknown, you either get used to the idea and accept it into your life, or you distance yourself from it until you have to face it again. Either way, you have to “swim” in the idea for at least a few moments.

Those few moments are the most thrilling aspect of fear, because you will always face the unknown with fear at first, even if you don't consciously realize that fact. This has been true since the beginning of time, and that will proceed to be the case until the last man ceases to walk this planet. We will continue to be human until we are no longer fearful. In other words, as Sir Francis Bacon once said, “to suffering there is a limit; to fearing, none.”