maggieping

Often “fear” keeps us in jobs that frustrate us, on career paths that we find unfulfilling, in relationships that are unsatisfying and so the list goes on. For most people, fear ranks up there in the top 2 or 3 things that stop us from trying to achieve our dreams and the things we REALLY want in life. We all face different fears; fear of disappointing others, of not fitting in, of being ostracised, fear of failure and even fear of success – most fears are made up from our experience of life, particularly our childhood. Don’t panic – I’m not get all Freudian on childhood, but you get my drift. Experience, including experiences that produced or reinforced fears, is what shapes us and make us all different. So, is fear a weakness?? Or is it actually a force for good? As time has gone on, I’ve started to realise that fear can be incredibly useful! Why? Combine fear with courage and what do you get? How often do you hear someone (maybe you?) say “if only I was brave enough to….fill in blank)!” I used to think that other people were courageous when they did things I wouldn’t dare do. But on reflection, isn’t it only brave to do something YOU fear doing? If a person isn’t scared of doing it, it demands no braveness on their part at all. In other words, braveness is only in the heart of the person who needs courage to do that thing.