Confidence

I wonder whether 'confidence' is the exact opposite of fear, anxiety, apprehension or its likes. 'Courage' doesn't seem to fit in as an opposite of those negative emotions. For instance, a person who is confident that the last bus has not yet left, and awaits that bus at that desolate bus stop, in utter darkness, cannot be called 'courageous' , unless that situation is attributed with additional vulnerabilities like 'ghost-ridden' place at night-times, etc. 'Fearless' could simply mean absence of fear and not necessarily a presence of courage. Maybe 'confide' comes closer to confidence, and if we have that self-confidence, it simply means we have that “self-trust”! Now, trust is a personal quality, and does not pre-suppose any performance-guarantee. In that sense, if that self-confidence fails, later on, we can always rename it as 'my own over-confidence'!

Instead of asking about positive traits, there was an asker who simply chose to seek the clarification about 'fear' and 'fearless' which comes 'sometimes'. The innocence of the asker's mind is in the words 'caught' by fear! The contrast is 'became' fearless! Now that ought to attract any person who is keen to address the 'mind of the asker'.

Great spiritual masters have spoken at length and in-depth about fear. It is not that easy to even grasp the concepts, leave alone getting rid of it! Fear is perhaps the last of the negative emotions to leave us. What I attempted is to suggest a simple and practical 'approach'. This 'approach' to be really practical, has to be within the reach of the asker. Maybe, others may find it worth re-visiting their own fears or even the false-pretensions about fearlessness, as I did unto myself, while attempting an answer.
psn(11th June, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110610130857AAQDSJf
My trouble is some times fear caught me and i cant do any thing & some times i became fearless and do anything?
how i will be more confident!
My Answer:
Fear is the most difficult one to get rid of, amongst the negative emotions. Also, fear comes up faster than other negatives. It gives less response time, like that fielder on the 'slip' or the wicket keeper, who is close to the batsman.
If we are familiar with a few situations, which we know that it is likely to cause fear, we can try to visualise those situations when we feel quite relaxed, healthy, safe, and strong. Allow the fear to creep in during those visualisation sessions, and just observe them. But care should be taken to disallow "our" participation to those fear-thought-processes, or invoking memories that aggrevate the fear. Yes, fear too is a mere thought process. If there is a venomous snake beside us, and we fail to recognise its shape, size etc, there is no room for fear (by the way, snake can remain more still than even a stone, which is 'supposed' to be inanimate!). This exercise is tough, but when the asker indicated that 'sometimes i become fearless'.... the potential to undertake such exercise is evident!!
(Food, or intakes, nervous stimulants, also affects the fear recurrence).
For those who are eager to go deeper, they can look within, and improve the 'positive attitude' (a less popular word is 'Right center' of the mind). When that 'right center' dominates, fear has less grip over us. We common people often oscillate between right and wrong centers, and then invoke memory and imagination, that too quite unawares, and that causes such uncertain/unpredictable tendencies. With some practice, we can learn two things, first to root at right/positive center, two to invoke memory and / or imagination at will. Eminent teachers at higher schools of learning like MBA etc strive to train students of high level/aptitude/skills into such skills, to be able to manage tough situations in business enterprises, where interpersonal skills matter the most at apex levels!
Confidence is a consequence of evolvement, and not the purpose