nomadic thoughts

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.” – Anne Frank

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and express what we really are. – Don Ruiz

Somewhere, even if you have to look for it, you possess fear. Some sort of fear. We’re all afraid of something. Some people are afraid to take physical risks. A risk that would require you to put your body in physical harm. Or maybe it’s a fear that stops you from walking over a ledge to your death. Fear is a powerful emotion and physically speaking, is one of the human characteristics that keeps us living. It’s not necessarily the lack of desire to do something, but the fear of harm that prevents us from doing so. Sure, anyone that has set “foot” on the ski slopes has probably wanted to try a black going absolutely full speed with no inhibitions. But that’s just the thing. Fear – one of our inhibitions – stops us from barreling down the mountain at full speed. In the interest of self-preservation, we dial it back appropriately and try to find the balance between the greatest amount of exhilaration we can feel and our safety.

Fear can be manifested into forms other than physical. Humans have the ability to turn fear into a very abstract feeling. Fear of professional failure for example. This fear doesn’t cause any bodily harm or threaten our physical well being per se, but it can create the same sort of inhibitions as a directly affected physical inhibition. So by this we find ourselves trying to find a healthy balance between maintaining our position and being as successful as possible.

Fear is a powerful and useful emotion. But it also has the ability to become a poison that slowly deteriorates the health of your psyche. The worst trap anyone can fall into is becoming more afraid of life than death. When you begin to ride the coattails of mediocrity to avoid an inevitability that we all face: death. Fear begins to overtake our lives and the control it exerts over our every action – or rather, inaction – turns us into something that isn’t necessarily afraid to dream, but afraid to pursue our dreams. We get lost in the fear of failure, fear of being alone, fear of being impoverished, fear of not being accepted, fear of being uncomfortable.

-David Ryder