The Courage to Fear

[talktooloose]

trapezebear wrote in his journal today about people who think of him as courageous: "As long as we define courage as 'moving through fear,' rather than 'not being afraid,' then this is accurate."

This reminds me of something I said to someone last night about my own struggles with my fears. I said that I'm still afraid of almost everything important I take on in my life but less afraid of being afraid. I can dive into something and say, "Okay, here comes the panic. Yeah, that'll last for about the first three weeks, but it will diminish if you stick to your action plan and stroke yourself a lot*. Oh, and here come the irrational internal voices saying you're going fail. Hi guys! You can blather on all you like and wake me at 4 a.m., but I know you're all just bullshit."

While the fear is still real and the pain is still vivid, I'm trying not to let it stop me anymore.

Cheers to you, Trapeze! You are one of my heroes.



* Take that any way you want.