failure

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default" - JK Rowling

Its the fear of failure that often keeps people from truly living. Sometimes its also the fear of success that keeps people from truly living. In each case, its the fear of something.

Is anyone truly fearless? I don't think so. I think every person is afraid of something, but some people are better at handling their fear. And some people are afraid of things that they don't have to encounter on a regular basis, like snakes or giant spiders or something.

I have lived with fear all my life. Big fears and little fears. Everyday fears and one-in-a-million-chance-of-happening fears.

The other day I was watching a reality show, and a young man was about to parachute out of an airplane. As the camera showed him preparing to jump, we hear him saying in a voice-over, "I'm not nervous; I'm trying to get that nervous feeling." Intellectually I understood what he was saying. Nervousness fuels the adrenaline high that comes from engaging in such an activity. But emotionally - it was absolutely mind-boggling to me that someone was actually WISHING to be nervous. When you've spent a good chunk of the forty plus years that you've been on this earth struggling with anxiety, you can not imagine anyone wanting to feel nervous.

Considering how much I have struggled, I would say that I have at least made some strides in my life. I have a Master's Degree, and I have a job. I go out to eat and attend social events. I have more of a handle on my anxiety than I used to. But in other avenues of my life, I still let fear win.

I try to remember that we are all a work in progress.
I'm not the only one who struggles.
I'm not the only one who's stuck.

librarianintx