Fear

"Don't let fear stop you from doing what you want to do."

Mom looks at me across the table at lunch. I have a few hours alone with her for the day and feel lucky.

Fear. Yes. The tears well up in my eyes and start slipping down each cheek. Fear of trying something new. Fear of starting. Fear of letting go. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. And, even though it sounds ridiculous: Fear of success.

Where did all this fear come from? Is it just me? Why can we breeze ahead on the expected, the straight, the narrow... but not leap easily into new paths, uncharted courses, different ways of living? Ways that speak us. Beckon us, again and again.

"Fear in the absence of danger has no purpose," someone once told me. "Let it go."

And it's true. This fear doesn't serve you or me or anyone. It eats our physical and mental energy. Makes our hearts tired. Leaves us living within the confines of what is easy or seems certain and safe.

But it only takes one look around to know that the world is anything but certain and safe. There is no sure thing. The universe is a system of organized chaos. Chaos that works. Balances things. But that also can shred dreams, turn lives upside down and hand us challenges we never thought we'd have to deal with, much less survive.

Outside the big picture window in the living room is a wide expanse of our little street. Flowers are in bloom everywhere and butterflies – yellow, orange, black – flit about. Their delicate little wings are a flurry, as they move from bloom to bloom and then set off for somewhere else in the world.

In this simple sight, I think, is the answer.

Yes, life hands out hardships. Even in the most safe situations, we could fall flat. There are no guarantees of ease or joy.

But we cannot let that stop us. Fear should not stop us. Fear should not hold us back from trying new things, from leaping into the unknown, from doing what that little voice inside us says to do.

So: Listen. Listen to what calls to you. Spread your wings. 

Release your fear.