Day 27 - Two Little Words - Fear Not

Remember: Courage is not the opposite of fear...

True story… about 10 years ago, before I sat down to pen a few thoughts, there was a loud, jarring knock at the front door of the Clark Family home.  The loud knock alone was enough to startle me from my keyboard, sending me trotting down the stairs.  The fact that this loud knocking came at 8:30 on a Friday night was especially unsettling. 
 
As I shuttled down the stairs, turned on the porch light, and opened the front door, a rather unassuming man carrying a clipboard greeted me with a handshake and a smile.  He quickly introduced himself and casually mentioned that he was just across the street, talking to my neighbor, Scott. 
 
We chatted for about five minutes, and he repeatedly pressed me to explain why I did not want to consider purchasing a home security system.  I provided no such justification, and subsequently requested his business card, and suggested that he “have a good night.”
 
As I strolled back into the family room where my wife and daughters sat coloring, my wife asked, “What was he selling?”
 
         “Fear,” I said.  
 
          “He was selling fear.”
 
           And I was not in the market for fear.
 
In these challenging times, though, fear has made a roaring comeback.
 
To be sure, when assessing the risks associated with everyday life, one must make a clear distinction between paranoia (which is a type of irrational fear) and a realistic fear (a rational fear that has a generally accepted and solid foundation in Truth).
 
Hundreds of years ago, fear had a very real and very frequent place in the life of humans.   
 
When faced with wild animals, merciless men, and life-threatening weather, we kept the element of fear first and foremost sacred in our minds.  And for good reason!  In the Pleistocene period and as recent as the last time we walked (alone in a house) into a dark room, our minds created fear to assist our bodies in the preparation for an onslaught of life-threatening possibilities.
 
Yet, despite all of the very real and rationally fearful things that potentially threaten us every single day… 
 
 …fear, itself, has no valid home… unless we give it a home. 
 
Interestingly, before we give it a home, fear has to be created by us.
 
And there you have it. 
 
That is the reason why I politely directed the salesman off my porch that evening 5 years ago: I was not buying the fear that he was selling.
 
And neither should you.
 
As we have all likely witnessed at some point in our respective lives, a life fueled by fear is a crappy life.
 
Accordingly, today I ask you to dispense with fear.  
 
How? 
 
Let’s refer back to what I said above: before you give it a home,  fear has to be created by you . 
 
In a beautiful, if not tragic irony, fear is created AND destroyed by the EXACT… SAME… MIND.
 
And in the final analysis, if you focus on your fear, you will feed and nourish the ugliest weed in your proverbial garden.  
 
Or… you can simply make the choice to invest in the opposite of fear.  
 
[Do you know what “the opposite of fear” is?] *
 
So today, as you awake… please breathe, be thankful, be patient, and be encouraged.  

In fact, I empower you to be fear-less.  

That’s right, this electronic post henceforth empowers you to become fear-less.
 
Now fear-less is not the same thing as fearless.  
 
Huh?
 
Fear-less is simply being less full of fear (less fearful).
 
On the other hand, fearless is defined as being unafraid or devoid of all fear… also known as “stupid.”
 
In the photo above, I completed a tandem skydive on Friday the 13th.  It was one of the most exhilarating experiences in my life.  While I was boarding the aircraft and preparing to take off with a few friends who joined me, we all watched as another parachutist landed too quickly and subsequently broke his femur bone (the largest bone in the human body).  
 
How do you think he will view subsequent Fridays when those Fridays just happen to occur on the 13th day of the month?
 
After seeing the ambulance crew ease the man onto a stretcher and head down Farrington Highway on the way to the hospital, we all felt a tad bit more fearful.
 
But we were not full of fear.  

Accordingly, we went forward with our plans to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
 
Indeed, for you and me, there are certain things of which we must be mindful and perhaps somewhat careful, if not fearful.  But to be fearful is not to be confused with “being full of fear.”
 
No… we can be concerned, careful, and cautious.  And we very well should be.
 
But we should also be hopeful, faithful, grateful, and purposeful.
 
In fact, the more time, energy, and effort we give to being hopeful, faithful, grateful, and purposeful, the less time, energy, and effort we have to give to being fearful.
 
Accordingly, today, I ask you:
 
                                           FEAR NOT.

Aloha,

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* BTW: The opposite of fear is not courage.
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The opposite of fear is an increased trust.
 
Trust your perfect imperfections.
 
Trust your uniqueness.
 
Trust your S.E.L.F.
 
You can do this! 
 
WE can do this!
 
You and me.
 
We.
 
~