Fear unmasked

Someone once said to me that bravery is not the absence of fear but rather the decision to act in spite of it.

In my imagination, that process goes something like this: “that’s just fear,” I think to myself. “And we’re going forward anyway.”

The problem is that reality often isn’t like that. To me, fear doesn’t sound like a quavering little boy in the corner of my mind, warning of dangers real and imagined. If that were true, fear would be easy to identify.

Rather, I find that fear takes on a number of disguises. Fear can sound like common sense. “This is just an unnecessary risk. Let’s not be stupid here.”

Fear can also sound like intuition. “Something in me is really reacting negatively to this. I think the Universe is trying to tell me something here.”

Fear can disguise itself as honoring the past, our commitments, our family, or our tradition.

I’ve even had fear manifest as physical sickness.

Fear is resolutely resourceful. It will grab on to any handle it can in order to stop us. It will assume any voice, co-opt any otherwise positive impulse, and leverage any foothold it can use to gain purchase in our decision-making process.

Winston Churchill once said, “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”

And so I am deciding that fear is going to have to ride in the back seat.

And while it may always be along for the ride, I refuse to let it drive. Or even mess with the radio.¹ No matter how reasonable it sounds.

And with that, here’s something I’ve been working on for the past few days. I hope it puts a groove in your step. This is a day for courage.

My very best,

Philip

1. Thank you Elizabeth Gilbert for this metaphor of how to deal with fear in Big Magic.