Happy New Fear

When facing unequivocal danger, animals act instinctively. Their most commom natural responses are the following behaviors: avoidance, defensive threat, defensive attack, risk assessment or freezing. Those are the innate responses, meaning the animals do not have to learn or think about them. Those reactions were given by Mother Nature and selected throughout the evolution of species as a - lets put it this way - efficient and smart way of dealing with danger evolutionarywise.

I find pretty easy to understand good uses for such behaviors, but I have some doubts about freezing. Ok, it may work in some situations, for example, if a rodent is trying to deceive an evil eagle flying up high. Hey! I am not moving, so the eagle thinks I am a rock, or a statue, whatever. Nevertheless, there are cases where just standing still makes no sense at all. When a mouse is facing a cat, for instance. Unless the mouse defies its predator for a staring contest or something like that, it is just useless, right?

Well, I do not want to go to far with this. I don't mean to bore people to death here.

I just wanted to introduce a very realistic observation about myself, as a representative of the animal world: I am having a very stupid instinctive response to my challenges and duties that are being brought by this brand new year. I am just not able to do anything but freezing. And I know for sure this will not do me any good...

I am looking 2009 in its eyes and I am f#cking paralyzed!
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