I think fear comes in many shapes and forms. It sometimes chooses to yell most unapologetically, but sometimes it submits our will with a mere whisper. Fear morphs itself and dawns whatever mask suits its purpose. It becomes many things and beneath it all and despite it all, it means to help us.
Fear is like an out of touch parent who loves their child unconditionally but is foolishly trying to save them from circumstances and a world they no longer live in or understand.
As strange as it may be to believe, fear is not our enemy. It serves or at least it served a purpose. Especially when we were younger. Fear kept us safe.
It helped us obey without question in exchange for comfort and security. It saved us from many dragons and evil sorcerers, but it now takes more than it gives. As you grow older and become more confident and wise, the voice of fear smothers you and imprisons you.
Not that we can ever truly conquer fear. It’s not a thing. It doesn’t have a body. It is not a person and it is never going away. We are forever stuck in a kind of loveless romance until we take our last breath. Fear will always be by our side, for better or for worse.
Our best course of action is to simply learn to accept it and subvert it. You have to learn to live with your feelings of fear and failure, and not just live with them, but embrace and celebrate them.
You have look at fear backwards.
The presence of fear is a blessing. It indicates that you’re on to something. Because if you weren’t, you wouldn’t be afraid. So it stands to reason that you are on a precipice of something great. But you have to dance with your fear and overcome it. You have leap without any guarantee of success and without a safety net.
But you have to leap.
That is the only way anything ever happens.
You have to accept that you might fail. You have to accept that you don’t have control. You have to understand that it is better to do something than to regret something.
But you should also take great comfort in that almost everything can be made right again.
Nothing lasts forever.
Tomorrow always follows today. People tend to move on and forget. Your memory will also let you forget, if you have to. There will always be more opportunities for redemption, for correction, and for starting over again.
Fear comes in many shapes and sizes.
There is no doubt about its power. There is no doubt that it comes when it wants to and struts their stuff as long as it wants to, but you are not helpless.
Fear is the harbinger of opportunity.
That feeling in the pit of your stomach is an invitation to be someone you’ve never been. An opportunity to do something that has never been done. Not by you anyway.
Don’t get crippled by it. Don’t hide and run away from it.
Stay where you are. Let the feelings subside.
Leap forward.
Get excited about what you’ll see that’s never been seen.
Cover photo generously provided by photographer Kevin Jarrett via unsplash.com
