The Power of Fear

THE POWER OF FEAR

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Reading the news about Fearless Felix, who broke through not only sound barrier while skydiving, but overcame his fear for closed spaces in his quest to set new and redefine human capabilities. I was fascinated to read that the man who had no qualms about heights and who dared to do feats that normally would make anyone of us, think twice, had almost given up on his dream of jumping from stratosphere, because he suffered from claustrophobia. Somehow, this endeared him more to me, made him more human and relatable, especially for someone like me, who is constantly struggling with unknown and unseen fears.

He also proved that fear is irrational, that being daring in some actions did not exonerate you completely from fear. Fear is unreasonable, can paralyze you into inaction or will be responsible in initiating you into reckless actions. All of us have different apprehensions, different thoughts about what is going to threaten our existence, most of it never exists or happen. Fear of death, change, losing a loved one, of being humiliated, failure, …. the list goes on, till you realize that all you need to fear is fear itself.

So, face the inner devil which nudges inactivates you, that pushes you in a corner and push the button of hope and faith to be free – free to live and soar the heights we are meant to reach.