Fear and the Fearless

Thinking about the prompt of Fear, I searched my blog for posts I'd written already on fear. Nearly all of them were to do with the Torschlusspanik list. That list is pushing me into things that I'm a little apprehensive about. Yet I do them, and nearly all of them I'd do again, because I liked them. They were fun, and I realised I had nothing to fear in the first place.

So it's taken me awhile, but I'm learning that as Ralph Waldo Emerson said "Always do what you are afraid to do".

It's funny how as we age, or pretty much after the age of 10, we become so self-conscious of our inabilities, so scared of failure, or of hurting ourselves, beyond common sense and preservation.

I have a fear of flying. The irony is, I love to travel, so I have to do it. It is so noticeable, that strangers next to me on the plane open the conversation with "So, you're scared of flying?". I'm not sure exactly what I do, but I'm guessing I'm pale and agitated. It gets worse every year. It's not just mechanical failure that makes me scared. Well before September 11, I was casing the plane for terrorists and trouble makers (I also do the converse and check for who will beat up the 'baddies', being probably the only person relieved when sitting behind two Yakuza-looking guys...they wouldn't be putting up with anything!)

The worst thing is, I know one day it will stop me travelling. I dread that day, and I'll be fighting it with all I can but I know it will defeat me eventually. But until that day, I just have to endure the ten or so hours of mental trauma, to arrive in the other great countries on this planet.

So I say to you, write that book, keep working on your blog, enter that marathon, apply for that job, take up the hobby you've always wanted to try, move to that new town, do the thing that you want to do but your fears are getting the better of you. There may come a time when your fears win, but if you are reading this now, let me tell you, that time is not here yet. It's okay to be scared. It's okay to voice that fear. It's not okay to let that fear hold you back.

Just remember the flipside of fear is courage and "Courage is doing what you're afraid to do.  There can be no courage unless you're scared".  (Edward Vernon Rickenbacker)

Linking up for #Blogtober on pushing thru fear. And if flying isn't an acceptable fear, here's a post about when we were attacked by a polar bear and what happens in your brain when fear takes over.