Fear Vs Happiness

Purpose

To explore How fear manifests in our lives and strategies for managing fear.

Materials

I base this work on Dan Baker's book "What Happy People Know" p. 26 to 30.

Procedure

1. I talk about how fear isn't just about cold terror or nail-biting. Fear manifests in our lives in many ways, including anger, depression, anxiety, perfectionism, shyness, isolation, etc. Fear is a major factor is our lives and affects our behavior and choices.
2. We can manage our fear through through modifying our thoughts and other strategies.
3. I draw a diagram with the brain stem, amygdala, hypothalimus and neocortex, and talk about the primitive fear mechanism and how we can use our high brain to manage the fear.
4. I go around the room, having each man read an item from the list of "Qualities that bring happiness" (see handouts). I then ask each student to select one item from the list and talk about it.
5. I read the list of "happiness tools" and discuss them (see handouts).
6. I read the list of "choices" and discuss them (see handouts).