F.E.A.R.

I heard yesterday of a colleague whose new car was slammed into while she was stationery - an awful thing for anyone, but it shot waves of horror through me as my dog usually occupies the back of my hatchback. It would be an awfully painful death for him if that ever happened, and even the thought of it makes me question travelling with him places.

Yet, sides of cars are pranged into all the time - does that stop parents from putting children in cars – no, and the thought of an unlikely situation shouldn’t stop me travelling with my dog either. You weigh up the risks (or try to avoid thinking of them) and in most cases do an action anyway.

Fear is a massive thing. It can paralyse us from doing things - it can greatly hinder our lives.

But fear isn't where it has to stop. As Ambrose Redmoon said "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

Fear is: Fully Engaged, Actively Risking. Actively risking because we believe that something is more important than the things that held us back, but fully engaged in the moment, reasoning, activity and outcome.

Life can be awfully scary, but if fear holds us back we'll have more regrets than we could ever imagine. Example: I'm not a fan of flying - it holds many of my weaknesses in one action: Saying goodbye to those I love, being out of control, death, and at times loss. But if I let this fear hold me back I'd never have gotten to my Nan's funeral, never experienced amazing cultures and people, never had some unforgettable moments with some very precious friends. Every time I fly I have fear – but it’s the actively risking while being fully engaged which helps me through it.
There’s a lot more things more important in life than fear, and we shouldn’t let it hold us back from experiencing them.