The Fastest Way to Kill Hopes and Dreams
“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.”
Brene Brown
I consider myself a moderately courageous person.
Except if you threw me into the middle of the ocean without a life jacket, locked me in a tiny crawl space, or gave me a pet tarantula to hold. 😰😬
When I thought about this month’s blog I asked myself, what usually stands between me and my goals? (Other than what’s outside my control and represents a ‘lesson’).
The answer is fear. So, it’s only fitting that I share a philosophical story about fear.
But first, let’s chat about how fear shows up.
Fear comes in many forms: a subtle looming dread, inertia, boredom, obsessive thoughts, resistance, heavy chest, anxiety, shaking legs, and outright panic.
Sometimes, fear causes a slow withdrawal from living.
We stop making everyday choices for our betterment and get comfy inside a proverbial cardboard box until we’re cynical and anxious, blaming everyone from the cat to our great great great aunt for our troubles.
When I’m leaning toward fear, my gut hurts. If I’ve unintentionally said something hurtful, I’m consumed with guilt until I apologize, figure out what caused the derail and take the path I know I should be on.
Making documentaries, I experience fear from pre-production to the final film. Will the incredible vision I have in my head translate on screen? Will I find funding? Will people appreciate what I’m trying to say?
Then I ask myself, will you let fear stop you regardless? The answer is no. The desire to create inspiring films is more persuasive than the fear of what may or may not happen.
Alas, enjoy a story about fear. I’m paraphrasing because I can’t find the story reference. :)
Villagers sought for a monk to come to their village, hoping he could reason with the spirit of death; an unprecedented number of people were dying.
When the monk arrived, he saw the village in turmoil. Compassionately, he spoke with the spirit of death, asking it to take only the people whose time it was to die.
The spirit agreed.
A while later, rumours of villagers dying in unprecedented numbers again reached the monk.
He returned to the village and questioned death.
“We had an agreement,” said the monk.
The spirit of death replied, “I’ve kept our agreement and only taken the ones I was supposed to. The rest died from fear.”
Fear kills good feelings, thoughts, relationships and dreams. It can also make us sick and cause premature death.
We always have a choice. Give fear the driver's seat or throw it in the trunk and let it be a cautionary chirp as needed.
Even if we've let fear kill a potential project or relationship, courage may be able to revive it.
If not, it's okay.
We can learn from the situation, be gentle with ourselves, keep going and try again using a more loving approach.
It’s never too late to be courageous. Only good can come from it!
TAKEAWAY: The past is over, yet lives in us still. Beautiful memories are cherished on repeat, but a betrayal, loss of money or harsh words keep us stuck in an endless cycle of self-defeat. We may find ourselves repeating the same situations and dynamics today. We may tell ourselves we’re crazy and unique in our problems. No one will understand! That’s fear talking :)
A wise woman once told me that fear is a Divine assignment. It stands for: FACE EVERYTHING AND RECOVER.
Thanks for reading :)
Sending you courage,
Shana Lee
P.S. Share my blog as you feel inspired.