courage
n.,
readiness
to face & capacity to endure danger, inherent freedom from fear or from its
disturbing effects, courageous mood
What are
you afraid of? What makes your muscles seize with fear? Is it the unimaginable?
The very real? A creepy crawly?
I
recently read somewhere that the thing people fear most as an ultimate is
death. And that is because they fear the unknown.
To that
means people don’t actually fear the act of exhaling their last breath. They
fear uncontrollable experiences that life throws at us. And I don’t believe
there is any shame in that.
Being
afraid of the unknown, of what might or might not happen, is not a sign of
weakness. In fact, if you have the ability to admit you have a fear of heading
into completely uncharted areas of existence then you are probably a very brave
person, because I think the thing highest on the list of
things-people-people-are-afraid-of is being true to themselves.
For some
reason society has established an aura around the ability to mask ones true
feelings.
Denying fear, turning a blind eye to our desires, alluding to being
comfortable with every situation and the eradication of questions which are
replaced by a steadfast pretense that that nothing new can be learned, are all behaviors typical of people who are afraid of showing their own truth.
They fear
that if they change their mind, ask a question, show they do not understand or
would rather tread a different path, that someone, somewhere will judge them.
Judge
them for being different. Judge them for being brave. Judge them for not being
afraid enough of the unknown to actually have a go. Judge them for letting the
universe just do its thing. Judge them for standing for something or by
someone. Judge them for having hope.
I’m lucky
to know many brave-hearted souls. People who swallow their fears of judgment
and choose to be themselves. They show me the beauty in facing your fears. They
have taught me to never give up and to always ask questions.
What am I
afraid of?
Lots of stuff really.
Like living in a global society that will
cause the extinction of whales or elephants or koalas or all of the above.
I’m
sometimes afraid of spiders, depending on what time of the day or night I catch
them creepin up on me.
I’m afraid of the consequences for my intestines after
eating too much full-cream ice-cream.
And I’m afraid of not being able to show
the ones I truly love just how much they mean to me.
But these
fears do not hinder me. They are the things that make me stronger. Because they
keep me in check and remind me I can always reach further.
Do
yourself a favour and give your fears a good butt whoopin.
Venture
into the unknown with your head held high and a song in your heart that goes
something along the lines of: look, I don’t know what’s going to happen but
chances are it’ll be amazing and there’s no way I’m missing out on life (insert
whistle and/or hum to appropriate tune). So show me whatcha got. Yep. Come at
me.
You never
know where you could end up.
Sometimes
life is what happens when you find yourself on land’s edge with the scruffiest
of creatures and you realise you’re right where you should be.
Peace,
love & and all that gooey stuff. X
