What is always our own major concern?
Fear! Fear of anything, of drug addiction, fear of human rejection, fear of becoming aware of some part of our nature hidden even from ourselves? Certainly there is the reasonable fear of concern for one's health and safety. There is the fear of what we don't know which might become real and something to fear.
Every thing around us has been carefully constructed into nuanced experiences sampled and indexed. When one decides to explore the unknown, the fears can be many. Fear of dragons, sailing off the edge of the world, and starvation would have been rational in the 1400s, and are even valid today. We all have a many layered cake of indulgent fears in the refrigerator. We only have to open the door to be both drawn and repulsed by it in fear. It's scary how much we desire it. The thought of all those calories is mixed with guilt iced fear.
When trying such a heavy new experience as DMT, a reasonable person will be afraid at the moment that they are ready to light the pipe! The amount that this fear effects someone is what should be analyzed. Any Psychedelic is an experience that builds strongly on the user's mental state, personal attitude at the moment of use. It is not a good thing to come to the point of takeoff and have doubt in your ability to fly safely. The flight won't be a good one. It's best to postpone your experience until your spirit is more receptive.
I have seen this often in hang gliding. Someone, a newbie to a high mountaintop launch, doesn't have that much airtime, gets out on to the runway and hesitates. I watch the throat go dry, the vague lost moment come over the pilot's face, where concentration and heightened awareness should be the emotions tinged with a bit of eagerness to be off the ground. This is normal and will fall away as the beginner gains experience. It is wise to be cautious, though. But there is a point where fear blocks smooth performance. The time to ponder whether one should really pursue the sport of hang gliding, or not, is definitely not on top of Mount Seven with a squall approaching down the valley.
It's time to fly and get ahead of it, or un-clip and put the glider back in the bag.
As long as no one gets hurt, a lesson is learned and experienced gained, either way. The flight, the mountaintop is only a learning vector, whether it is flown or canceled.
The other thing is that this threshold of fear is uniquely personal, varying with experience and this should be so. I am of a much higher threshold for fear in many areas compared with someone half my age, simply because I have twice the lifetime experience and due to this enlightened perspective it is easier for me to discard any irrational fears and ignore any urges to entertain them. This takes practice to achieve; a full realization in the heightened perception of the moment, tempered with confidence, that this is easy/fun. Such a state produces ecstatic moments of pure joy, where once lay sheer terror.
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