Do It Afraid

 

(For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of sound mind.) 2 Tim 1:7 KJV

Fear is one of the major reasons why so many people have not become who they ought to be. It is the reason why they are not happy. Yes! Not happy. They are not happy because they just find it so impossible to achieve their dreams. Fear of the future, fear of what people would think or say, fear of under-performing, fear of criticism and many other reasons.

Everyone experiences fear at some point of their lives or, when certain decisions are to be made. I have always been a victim of fear basically because I tend to overthink or ponder over certain situations and decisions. But, I have also come to realize that most of the things that I think would happen, do not end up happening. And, if I did not take the bold step of facing my fears and doing whatever I set my heart to do afraid, I probably would have not made that discovery and, would remain on the same spot.

The courageous ones are not those that do not get scared, but those that make attempts even when they are scared. Being courageous is the act of doing things that one finds frightening. I am sure that, most of us must have experienced coming up with a wonderful ideas and in the process of analyzing and checking out how it would be realized, you suddenly lose interest because of certain things that you think would happen. Or sometimes, you end up coming up with several reasons why you think the idea is not feasible.

Fear could be as a result of overthinking. So, does this mean that we should not think or plan before taking actions? No. it means that despite the fear that is aroused from overthinking, excess rumination and all, we should still take action. One of the major things that shape our thoughts is the society. Either the one we live in or the one(s) we have lived in. The experiences we have or have had in our society, determines greatly, how we react to our imaginations and ideas. So, if you live or have lived in a pessimistic society,  when you have amazing thoughts, if care Is not taken, you will tend to wave them off, with the usual phrases, “it is not possible”, “what if this or that happens”. Part of our society, is the kind of company we keep. So if you want to start “doing things afraid”, you must have a circle of courageous and pro-active  people.

The fear of what people would think or say could be as a result of overthinking, which is also shaped by the society. The fear of so many impossibilities relative to the possibilities and every other thing we tend to be scared about should not stop us from taking big steps because, in the long run they might not end up happening and even if they do, we have at least taken the big step. We should not always let our emotions and feelings control us and, draw us back.

Another form of fear is the fear of failure. Trust me, you will never know and believe that you can do something, until you do it. So, do not paint a picture of what failure looks like but, paint a picture of you making an attempt and even when you fail, you do not give up. Successful people are not those that do not fail but, those that keep trying even after failure. Our society has made us think that failure is equal to who we really are. But it is not who we are, but part of the process of becoming who we really are.

Most importantly, we have to remember that the strange feeling and spirit of fear was not instilled in us by our creator. So, whenever we are scared and feel tied down, we should rise above it and, wave it off immediately knowing that it is a limitation and, we are not supposed to be limited right?

Courage is an important factor for greatness. No one has ever been great without being courageous at one point or the other. Challenges will come, thoughts of impossibilities would arise but, we must learn to face them and overcome them.  At the end, that is what makes life interesting and helps us build capacity for greater heights.

However, “doing things afraid”, is not a one-day or one-time attempt but rather, a continuous one. When it is done, consistently, we get used to it and, we have our capacities built. Many of us tend to wonder if the great men and women in the world do not get scared or care about what people think and say. I believe that they are rather, used to doing things afraid because they have done it so many times and have made diverse attempts.

The courageous ones are not the ones that only think about taking big strides but, those that actually DO. Enough of thinking about taking a bold step, take the step and, become the high flyer you were created to be.