Fear. Oh fear, that thing can keep us from pursuing our passions quicker than the inspired idea even came in. It always seems to hang around before any risk or unknown path we’re thinking of going on.
I often get asked, “How are you able to think up a dream and just go for it? Aren’t you scared?”
This has been a long process and each risk or dream is different, but I think a lot of it stems from looking at the other side; the alternative to taking the risk, and reevaluating where the fear actually is. When you think about something you would love to do, often fear will come up. What if this happens? What if it doesn’t work out? Am I capable? We’re quick to acknowledge the fear behind it to the point that it can tip the dream so that we never actually do it. Fear is a part of life, it comes up whether you want it to or not, but rather than putting your fear next to doing something that you love, there’s another place you can put it.
A few months ago I was getting ready to leave for the airport to come home from my Euro trip. It was one of the best times of my life and I felt so free. I sat down with a journal the night before my flight and started crying, 1. because I was overjoyed with sheer gratitude for being able to spend such a lengthy, adventurous time with one of my closets friends and 2. because I was terrified.
I wrote down the words:
“I never want this freedom to end.”
I realised that my perspective had shifted. Taking risks, jumping off rocks into water, saying yes to my passions… those “risky” things no longer seemed to be accompanied by fear. What was now enthralled by it were the things that I’m not passionate about; things that I never wanted to go back to. I became less afraid of doing what I love and more afraid of doing what I didn’t. Fear, the same feeling that might have prevented me from taking a risk, was now the one fueling the same risk but in a new way. The thought of having to live a life that I wasn’t inspired by suddenly left a pit in my stomach; I was terrified of the idea.
Again I thought, “I never want this freedom to end.”
That fear of needing to do something that I wasn’t passionate about fueled new ideas and new risks to take; bigger risks. Ideas that I previously didn’t think were possible for me to execute now. While there are many times that fear will come up in going for these risks, this type of fear seems so minute compared to the fear I have of not feeling free; not living a life I’m passionate about.
Once I realised this, I wanted to write it out to see if shifting fear made sense on paper. I wrote down two different options (these are all scenarios I have faced in the past, and while I ended up going for each, there was definitely fear that went along with them).
Option A:
What if I moved to a new country?
What if I decided to take a risk and do something I’m passionate about?
What if I told the person that I’m most excited about that I have feelings for them?
Option B:
What if I safely stayed at home?
What if I stayed in the same job and never knew if I could follow my passions?
What if I didn’t tell someone I had feelings for them because then I would never feel rejected?
Option A, filled with risks and passions, would normally cause the most fear. When I looked at it like this… Option B looked terrifying.
If you’re wanting to take a risk or pursue your passions now, It’s normal for them to have fear. We build up our dreams so much that of course we’re scared to go for them. There are so many unknown factors that we just won’t know about until we actually give them a try. Fear is a part of our journey, but maybe if we became less afraid of doing what we love and more afraid of doing what we feel mediocre about, we could use that fear to fuel the success of our passions.
If you want to learn how to let go of fear, follow your heart and do what you love join us for #RadLivin in Sydney on the 20th of Feb.
