Fear and over cautiousness

According to internet source, fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something dangerous is likely to cause pain or hurt. It's a negative emotion which can cripple a person into immobility. But there is a positive side of fear, reasonable fear, that is, it helps to protect us and to be alert to imminent danger. Feeling of fear is very natural. It's a signal that cautions us to be careful.
But fear can also be a hindrance. It makes a person become over cautious. Over cautiousness is not the problem actually but what's in the mind, is. It may lead him/her to be fixated on one thing/aspect instead of taking in the whole picture which can lead to paranoid (internet source) An overcautious person is frightened to take risks, no matter how small the risk is. He/she feels so in secured and the mind works overtime by imagining something negative might happen if she/he does something that's not usual. So decision-making is painfully slow with thousands of 'what ifs'. Usually an overcautious person looks at the negative side of things first and slow to weigh the positive side of things or actions. Insecurity, lack of confidence, fear of unknown are some traits of overcautious person. It's hard to give complement to this type of person because he/she doubts the sincerety of the complement and feels embarrass to embrace it.
As an example, an overcautious driver can be dangerous because they are so fixated on themselves and not able to think about his/her effect on other drivers. They drive so slowly, react slowly which cause stress on the road and interrupt the flow of traffic.
In my life I have met a few over cautious people. Sometimes I do admire them for their 'thoroughness' but get irritated with their slowness in making decision. Having relationship with overcautious individuals always end up in conflict. I am just the opposite of over cautiousness. I take risks and made decisions fast, sometimes regretting them later but I accept it as mistake and take responsibility. To me taking risk is part of learning and learn from the mistake I make (sometimes quite costly) but well, mistakes are the teachers in life. As I grow older I learned to take calculated/educated risks so that the negative impact (if any) is less and I think I become wiser.
An old traveling friend was always angry with me for being bossy. I couldn't stand her slow decision on doing something which I have to wait for ages. She describes herself as being cautious but to me she was being overly cautious. Her attitude and unreasonable fear always dampen my spirit and stop me from doing what I wanted to do. I get frustrated sometimes. When traveling on our own I always researched first so that I know what to expect. She didn't. Because of that she is so frightened of taking or going somewhere unfamiliar, pulling me down along the way. Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore and so I decided to travel less with her as my companion.
Another traveling companion decided to cancel our travel plan because her friend told her the country that we are going to is cold and windy. This particular friend jumped at the feedback and decided to cancel the trip without even bothering to find out more. I was so livid. We planned and researched ( I sat in front of the computer till my back ached) for the trip, then without discussing it with me she made the decision to cancel. But I decided that with or without her I'll go ahead with my plan. After talking to some of her friends, her unfounded fear was proved baseless and she decided to go ahead with the original plan. Meanwhile, it was stressful for me.
Unfounded fear and negative thinking and over cautiousness are like 'doa'. It may happen if you think it too often because you WILL it to happen. It's like 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. To me if something is destined to happen, it will happen even if you're right in front of your doorstep. Feedback, well-meaning advice should be taken with a pinch of salt, find out more before you let fear conquer you. At the same time arm yourself with relevant information and doa mohon perlindungan dari Allah. When you fear too often of 'what ifs', you don't trust God.
Check HealingWell.com and read article by Ed Edelson about "Cautious Personality Might Boost Parkinson's Risk." It may help to open some mind about the effect of fear and over cautiousness on the mind, brain cells and physical well-being.