Every once in a while—more often than not—we come across this tense, overwhelming feeling of dread mixed with anxiety that overtakes our very being. This feeling alone has been known to hold the power to stop even the greatest of men. This feeling does not discriminate against color, size, shape, height, or intelligence. It comes after everyone, like a sly animal moving in the night, waiting for the minute your guard is down and your defenses have crumbled to a mere nothingness.
This feeling is FEAR. We all remember being scared before, either from heights, seeing a spider, or for most college students, the fear of doing homework. And if you don’t, it’s sad to say that you lie to yourself so readily.
In society today, a common fear that has plagued humanity and left many of us as empty as a candy jar on Halloween, is the fear to take chances. So many times, we allow opportunities to pass us by because we were too scared to apply ourselves, or too scared of what others might think of us. Bound by this fear, we in turn end up not living to our fullest potential, but rather end up working jobs we can NEVER be truly happy in, and leading lives that are filled with endless regrets. Why must we continue to play this old movie over and over again, though we always claim we’ll be different. “I refuse to let my degree go to waste.” “I wonder if this is truly my calling.” “What if I’m not good enough.” “I’ll just wait until another opportunity rolls by, then I’ll know for sure.” We make countless excuses as to why we refuse to take a leap towards something we are passionate about, yet refuse to take blame when life comes crashing around us. We all have those voices in our heads that either cheer us on, or boo us off of the stage. Instead of listening to the correct part, we find ourselves time and time again listening to the latter. That’s the real irony. Why be captive to an inner manifestation of yourself created with the pure intention to bring you down, rather than listen to the part that wants to bring you happiness. Two sides of the same coin, only you have the choice to choose which side to dust off. We shouldn’t let fear be the reason why we didn’t apply to that job, because we thought the next guy had a better chance. For all we know, he probably had no experience, but because of his fearless confidence, he landed the job that could’ve been ours. So, when you reach for your dreams, reach far. Pass the stars. Reach until you’ve hit another dimension; that’s when you’ll know just how capable you are.
So, when the time come and we must face that fear, we have two options: To drop everything and either RUN or RISE. Take that chance. A favorite poet of mine once wrote: “Two roads diverged in a yellow road, and I took the one less traveled by. And that has made ALL the difference.”
picture from: http://i.imgur.com/JQEvTrK.jpg