The Mind Killer

Of all the things in life that can motivate a person, fear is perhaps the most effective. The most amazing thing about fear, is that it motivates you to do nothing.

I'm not talking about the acute fear of being immediately, physically threatened. That kind of fear is fleeting, and clearly motivates almost anyone to quick action. I'm refering to a much more subtle, insidious condition of constant, paralyzing fear. The kind of raw emotion that makes even getting out of bed in the morning difficult. Everyone, at one point or another in their life, has faced this fear.

It would be wonderfull if we could snap our fingers and banish all of our terrors. Unfortunately, this problem is much too deep and complicated for a simple fix. Perhaps the most difficult part is defining the true issue at hand. Perhaps fear is not, in and of itself, the problem.

Every human being has fear, and anyone who tells you they have no fear is just afraid that you might think they are weak. Fear is a natural emotion, a useful barometer of our limits, and sometimes it can even be a fun rush. Fortunately, the good Lord gave us a tool against fear: Courage. Let us be clear on this much: Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to act in the face of fear. I imagine we all wish we could be more courageous people. I wonder, however, if we have it within us to grant ourselves that wish...

I suspect that courage, or lack thereof, is the simple result of attitude. Perhaps even a conscious choice. A person in fear has two basic options: they can choose to succumb to that fear and be a coward, or they can choose to be courageous and fight their fear head on. A person can take the attitude that says, "It's too hard to try," or a person can take the attitude that says, "I'll never give up."

Which person are you?