Fear

Last night, I was thinking back over every new endeavor and goal that I've pursued over the past couple years. I'm realizing more and more that it doesn't matter what I'm doing: whether I'm being asked to do something I've never done before at work, thinking about a poem I'm going to write, or climbing a mountain that's higher than I've ever climbed before, fear is present in everything I do.

Every book I write, I'm scared to share. Every project I start, I fear failing at. Every mountain I climb, I fear failing to reach the top.

As I look back, I see that everything I've ever achieved is something I once feared.

What if fear is not limiting then unless I allow it to be?

What if fear is actually a gateway to opportunity, an entry point to growth, a path leading us to discover more deeply who we are and what we're made of. But this is only if we choose so, only if we choose to dance with our fears rather than run from them.

This year, I've been learning how to welcome my fears and feel them, while still refusing to allow myself to be defined by them. This year, I've chosen what fear will be for me:

Fear is not my prison and grave, but the land upon which I will build my dreams.

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