I am sure you’ve wondered sometimes if you’ve got what it takes to be that which you aspire to be, to do the things you want to do and to go to the places you want to go. It is natural to doubt if you’re making the right moves and whether the choices you make are the right choices. Sometimes your fears will get the best of you, but even then you must wrestle them to the ground and win, not some of the time but all the time. You must make it a habit to stay and fight, even if at times the temptation to run away from it all may be strong. This is how you build character and character is more important than gold.
Character means you’re seasoned, that you’re worth your salt. It means you’ve got the skill and the temperament to build something out of nothing. Of course sometimes you will run half away only to remember that you have what it takes to win, and at that point you will turn back and go fight for what is yours. Sometimes when it happens you will get a grip as it happens and stand to fight your dragons for your piece of ground. When this happens it will be because you would have remembered who you are and where you’ve been. When it happens it often not by chance but most probably because at that point you would have remembered to take a look over your shoulder and seen the fresh trail of dragons you’ve slain. In such instances you would have remembered who you truly are, a dragon slayer.
No man can run from his fears because they are part of him, wherever you run to there will your fears be. That is why it is futile to try to out run your fears and your doubts. The only way to overcome them is by coming to them face to face in battle and win. Fear and doubt are things that we must learn to live with without letting them conquer us. We must instead learn to conquer them. In your most doubtful and fearful moments you must fill your mind with your victories for what good would it do if you remembered your failures. I don’t know about you, but I find that it serves me to remember my victories rather my failures. If you remember your short-comings what good will it do you?
No one is immune to fear and self-doubt, even the most progressive and strongest among us have his or her fair share to contend with. Just because we don’t see them being consumed by self-doubt doesn’t mean they don’t do their fair share of fear fighting, because in private they do. You must never fight your fears and your doubts in public for everyone to see. It is your private affair. Fear and doubt if left unchecked will probably chain you to your past by defeating your best attempts before they start. That is why it is important to realize that you are not the only one that feel fear. We all do, even the best and the brightest amongst us. However, it is important to realize that fear is just an emotion that is manufactured by your own imagination.
That is why the best thing to do when you feel fear is to do the thing you fear. Not only does that slay your dragons but it also builds your self-esteem and confidence. Some people are said to be courageous, but courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to feel fear and still go ahead and do the thing you fear. It is often said that the difference between a coward and a hero is that a hero is braver for one minute longer.
Fear can also be seen as your guardian angel, it can be seen as being there to serve and protect you. It is there to alert you that you are leaving your comfort zone and venturing into unfamiliar territory and thus has to be prepared.
However, most people don’t understand the emotion of fear. They think it means they should stop what they are trying to accomplish and simply run away. Being scared should not stop you from following your objectives through. If you are to take counsel of your own fear then you are going to be stuck for a very long time.
Shakespeare wrote, “a coward dies a thousand times before their death, but the valiant die but once.” Through his cowardice a coward denies himself multiple opportunities to engage fully in life’s activities. A coward doesn’t love for fear of being heart broken, doesn’t dance for fear of embarrassment, doesn’t take risk or venture out on their own in the world of business for fear of failure. No matter how talented or gifted a person is, if that person has a debilitating condition of cowardice no one will enjoy that person’s gifts. Not even that person will enjoy her talents let alone her life.
Enough about cowards, what about you? What have you been meaning to do or be but have not had the courage to start as of now? What would happen if you started it today? What is the worst possible thing that could possibly happen if your fears became real? If they really do become real, would they really be that bad? Think about it, what are you so scared of anyway? Take it from me, there is nothing to fear but fear itself. The only thing that is real about fear is fear itself. Besides you only live once, so don’t let the fabrications of your own imagination botch it up.