This past week I noted how lucky I was to have been raised by my mother to be fearless. This was especially striking considering how she was not always fearless herself.  Or at least not in the traditional sense of that phrase.   But what is awesome about that particular juxtaposition on my mother’s part was that she also taught me to not be ruled by the fears of others.  And I want to pass that message onto my son and nieces.

It is so easy often to fall under the spell of fear –especially fear emanating from the belly of others. Their fear can be infectious and lead to unwise actions and being closed off to new opportunities. It is ok to be fearful in certain situations. It is normal to feel fear. It is normal as well to fear fear. That is how individuals come to all beat to the same drummer, sort of speak.  It is how people come to feel disdain of that which is different.  But to be constrained by the fear of others is just plain old scary to me. I suppose I am not necessarily risk averse. I am also not the biggest risk taker. I weigh decisions carefully. Although, I often root for the decision that will bring about change. I hate stasis. Which reminds me of how much I do like science fiction. I know. Non-sequitur.  Well, not really. As a genre, science fiction is often willing to push things forward both in its storytelling techniques and in the actual narrative. What I find amusing is that those that don’t tend to like change are the ones that tend to like horror films and rollercoasters. Well, I have no real proof of this. It’s just anecdotal.

Anyway, I just wanted to note how you can’t give into the fears others have. You can’t let a fearful world view stop you from living your life. It is amazing how those fears can shackle you to a present and a future that has less opportunities.

Fly. Fly up high.