Living in fear: A human experience

Going through life trying to avoid the things you fear is like choosing to take the longest route to a destination. This wastes more time and energy compared to confronting life head on, of course it's much easier said than done. We've all given into fear at some point in our lives and this is because as beautiful and magnificent as the human mind is it is also immensely powerful and can in fact paralyze us if we allow it too. Technology is another beautiful and powerful tool that I will say has vastly improved the world, but it has played a part in weakening people's resolve. So many of us have come to fear things like interaction, conversation, connection, intimacy which is so incredibly sad to me because these things are what humans can do that technology will never be able to. We seek that connection or intimacy by following people on the internet and convincing ourselves that they are doing things none of us ever could. This is completely untrue, but even so, I believe that everyone has the potential to live an extraordinary life if they can manage to cohabitate with fear. 

Notice how I didn't say eliminate or get rid of fear, because the reality is the human mind will almost always try to come up with some new way to scare us out of living the life we want. This is because the mind's job is to protect us but that doesn't mean it can't also hurt us. Those who are fearless still experience fear, if they didn't they wouldn't be human. What I'm trying to get to is that nothing is out of your reach, of course you'll be scared to try initially but trust yourself and do it anyway. Being afraid is a part of the human experience and it's something many of us have to learn to cope with on a daily basis but I promise that the feeling of regret is much worse than that of fear. Don't regret the things you didn't say or the things you didn't do but desperately wanted to. Don't let fear of the unknown in your way. 

If you've read this far you're probably wondering, "okay well is she going to tell us how to get past the fear or offer any advice?" The answer is yes, I am. Keep in mind I am still very much navigating this challenge myself but I can tell you what a good friend of mine said recently and that is that it only takes three seconds of courage to say or do what you want to. So the next time you're afraid to raise your hand in class, speak up at a meeting, or jump into something new, take a deep breath, count to three and just do it. One more piece of wisdom I can offer on the subject is the more you go out and just live life the way you want to despite being scared will gradually make it easier to tune out the fear. Eventually you'll be able to just live and enjoy every minute of it. 

Thanks for reading! Remember to have compassion for yourself because you are amazing<3

Love, Chelsea