BRING ON THE FEAR!

Fear.

That debilitating feeling of dread that tries to stop us from moving forward.

Or is it?

The question of whether or not I would chose to live without fear is just not such a simple answer for me.

I mean, seriously, without fear I could just go…

“Yeah, no fear, I would do anything! Wooo Hooooo!!!”

Right?

Not the way I see it.

Fear is an obstacle and as with all obstacles, we will either fail at the bottom or figure out a way around it. It is those who overcome it that go on to do great things (or stupid ones, as YouTube has proven over and over).

Fear is what separates the good from the truly great. It stands in the way and says “You shall not pass!” (sorry Gandalf, I totally just did you wrong) It looks down on you and tells you that you aren’t good enough, strong enough, smart enough.. whatever enough.

Fear is what makes the brave brave, and the courageous courageous. Not in spite of fear, but because of it. It is the yard stick we use to measure those actions with, because bravery and courage are measured by the level of risk taken, not the level of ease that the person did it with. We don’t award the CMoH to those who saw a moment but were too afraid to seize it, it is given to those who push past that fear and into greatness.

To me, fear is one of the spices of life. Some of my greatest moments in life were filled with fear. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of… well… fear. But at the same time, those moments in my life when I decided to push past the fear and I took the plunge turned out to be some of the greatest moments in my life, made memorable and great because of the fear.

Moments like…

• Entering a writing contest
• Acting in a play
• Asking a girl to go out with me
• Asking my wife to marry me
• Joining the Navy
• Jumping off a cliff in Palma De Mallorca
• Having kids
• Going to college
• Writing this blog

And the list goes on.

Without fear, those moments wouldn’t have been as epic as they were. Sure, maybe they would have happened. Sure, maybe they would have been great. But, what flavor would they have added to my life other then just another event to log on my Facebook timeline?

So basically, I ask the question in return…

What good is it to take a risk if you have no fear?

Where is the pizzazz?

Where is the risk?

Where is the need to shout Carpe Diem?

 

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