“Acrophobia” also known as the fear of heights is a most common phobia among people. It tends to vary from person to person, in which case some might freeze or feel extreme distress when taken to high places. But the truth of the matter is that it is not actually height that people are afraid of, they are afraid of ultimately or by any sort of accident falling down from high places. Thus they find it hard to cope with situations involving height.
Jennifer DeLucy very wisely said:
“How many of us stop short of success on purpose? How many of us sabotage our own happiness because failure, while miserable, is a fear we're familiar with? Success, however, dreams come true, are a whole new kind of terrifying, an entire new species of responsibilities and disillusions, requiring a new way to think, act and become. Why do we REALLY quit? Because it's hopeless? Or because it's possible..."
The Fear of Falling:
The real term for fear of falling is known as “Basso-phobia” , in which the person in question is not scared of heights but in reality is afraid of falling down. By this we can say that the reason people usually freeze when they reach high places, is that when they look down to see how far up they have reached the depth seems like a never ending pit or rather an abyss. They start deluding themselves that they would fall into the pit sooner or later, which causes them to become scared.
The Fear of Failing:
Generally speaking, if the topic is not taken in its literal meaning one can deduce the fact that, here heights address to objectives or goals that they want to achieve, and falling represents failing to meet the goals in question. It is the dark voice inside one’s head that tells him not to bother trying in the first place and giving up the idea of success altogether. Even if they had the potential to achieve some sort of goal, they would just give up without even trying for the fear of the humiliation that comes with failing. They fail to realize that it is not humiliation that they face but experience and wisdom comes with experience.
Even Jake Wood was a victim, as he explains:
"Failure is another emotion I cannot stand to feel, because in adult life I have conditioned myself not to fail at anything. Failure takes me straight back to the feelings of worthlessness I grew up with as a stammering, reclusive little boy."
Afraid of Losing:
The fact remains that even though everyone aspires to achieve greatness, but when they find out the difficulty in the level of achieving their dreams, or when the competition along the way gets tougher and tougher one cannot help but think that they are no good. But still the only problem that comes along that nobody wants to be a loser. They are afraid of losing but not afraid of the hurdles that come between them and their destiny. And this fear of failing that steps in prevents them from achieving greatness.
Conclusion:
In the end it is what we believe in that matters. If we believe something is impossible then it would turn out to be impossible for us. Thus one should be optimistic and focus on only achieving their goals, then come rain come hail, no mortal would be able to stand between him and glory. There are times in life when nothing ends up going the way we want them to, so we end up losing hope and become ready to give up on our dreams because the hurdles are too high. But this approach is not correct for it instead of creating an endless hope builds a hopeless end.
Annup Kachar had explained this failures effect on us as:
“What does failure do to us? We fall into a vicious downward spiral. Failure is a lot like a shot from a double barrel gun but with a difference. The first shot is like the news which explodes in one’s face. But it is the second, after a short time lag, which causes the most damage. It comprises of pain, humiliation, shame, frustration and anger. The first shot pales in comparison. It is life after the blast that causes the most hurt.”