Fear Me

Prompt #15: What is your biggest fear? Turn it into thevillain in your next story, give it a name, draw a picture of it…what would itwear? What would its voice sound like?

So Charlie, you wanna know my biggest fear?

Well... I think my underlying fear is the same as anyone’s. Not death or loneliness or sickness.

None of those.

I think humanity's base fear is something much more universal.

I think our greatest fear is that we’re never going to be enough.

Now, each individual person picks their own definition of enough: pretty enough, smart enough, skinny enough, strong enough, kind enough, talented enough, funny enough, creative enough, wealthy enough etc...

But for everyone, it always comes back to the same thing, yeah?

It sure does seem like it.

And that fear - the one that is at the root of all of our other fears - holds us back from everything. From striving for goals, allowing others to love us, taking risks, to loving ourselves.

We all struggle with it and most of us struggle with it all the time.

And you know what? That's fine. Because we’re human and apparently it’s a very natural fear for us to have. We need to stop running from it, denying it’s there, or punishing ourselves for repeatedly fighting with it.

Personally, I've made the choice to embrace fear. Let the boogieman in and invite him to tea. Call him my brother and try and figure out why he’s there or what he wants.

Which reminds me of a movie I saw this weekend.

In The Avengers Thor and Loki are brothers. One good - One bad.

But the good brother, Thor, doesn’t try to rid the world of Loki. He actually chains himself to his brother; pulls him in closer and decides to take responsibility for the dangerous and scary creature.

People too often run from their fear. But the older I get, the more important I realize it is to embrace what scares me the most.

I get afraid of stupid stuff all the time. I get worried and anxious and frightful. Of things that are going to happen, things that might happen, or things that I can’t even control anyways...

But the only way that I can 'overcome' the fear is to accept it.

Yes I'm going get fearful, and when I do I'll manage the fear. I won’t try and rid myself of it. No.

It's my goal to recognize the fear, accept it as a part of the process, and move forward. Because like all moments, it'll pass.

The fear will come, life will move on, and the fear will pass. In moments of bravery I remind myself of this same lesson. Nothing is permanent; especially emotions. So the earlier you can accept it, the sooner you can learn to not let your feelings control your life.