Are you missing out on Beauty due to Fear

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain

I was in involved with a discussion this week about fear…. We were discussing the excitement of glass bottom boats. I have had the honour of being in a glass bottom boat in Niue when on a Scout service project there. The glass bottom boat was a great way to see the colourful marine life in the deep clear ocean. I still have fond memories of my time in the boat. However the thought of being over deep water raised fear in my friend.

I had to question further, why there was a fear of deep water. The answer I got was surprising…. It was that deep water is dark and sea creatures like sharks can hide there. I thought about this and then thought about my time in Niue and realised that though this perception felt true for my friend, it was not true at all in my experience in Niue. Yes, in some cases it might be, but in Niue the deep water was clear and you could see lots…. I saw no sharks….

I then thought to myself, how many times do we miss out on the beautiful things in life due to fear. Yes, fear is a normal feeling and it is a good feeling. In fact fear keeps us from doing some really dumb things, including life threatening things. As in the quote above by Mark Twain, it is in how we master (manage) fear that is important and it is not about being fearless.

In Australia there was an anti-terror campaign label “Be Alert, Not Alarmed”. Though to some it was over used, there is a point there. I believe it is about not over stressing about things. Be alert to your situation, but do not let it control you. In this way we will have a less stressful way of life…. and in this way we get to enjoy life more and see beautiful things.

• What is something that you are fearful of?
• In what ways is this fear holding you back from living your passion?
• What is one way you can master this fear in order to live your passion?