One word, fear. It is not just a word used in life threatening situations. Fear comes up more often than we would like to admit. It comes around when we do something that we are uncomfortable with, when we interact with someone for the first time, when we wear something a little out of our comfort zone, when we take steps forward, or even when we make decisions on our own. Fear sneaks in whenever our confidence is down. Yes, there is a type of fear that comes to light when we are standing on the edge of a cliff, but in all honesty, we feel the fear of the unexpected, the uncontrollable, and the aspects of life that we can’t see far more.
The Ink
As I am sure most have seen and know, I have a tattoo on my wrist that says the word “Fearless”. This is a pretty common tattoo, although to me it is original. I got this tattoo the day after I turned 18. It was something with a deep meaning that I had spent years thinking about and a good amount of ink practicing fonts and placements. I grew up afraid of a lot of things and I tended to let fear rule my actions. Sometime during my high school career, my sister bought her and I these key necklaces from the company, The Giving Key. Essentially their motto is for us to choose a word that we would like to work on and once we have succeeded, we pass it on to someone we think could use the encouragement also. The word my sister chose for our key necklaces was the word “fearless.” We had this quote that my sister would say to me, “be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire”. I would wear this whenever I did something that freaked me out or caused fear to stumble up into my head. It brought comfort and a good reminder that I shouldn't let fear rule my actions, and it worked. Later, as she was giving a speech during my high school graduation, she referenced the quote and changed it to be, “be fearless in the pursuit of Him who sets your soul on fire”. The word fearless always stuck with me and anytime I saw it I was reminded that fear is only an emotion that we allow ourselves to feel cutting us off from doing something great. Then fast forward a little while and now I have a constant reminder on my wrist.
Fearless
Who actually enjoys living in a world of fear? It is so crippling and opportunity-ending. To choose to let one word take ownership of our lives baffles me. I am no saint and I live in fear far more than I would like to admit. Fear is a part of our actual DNA. We have transmitters in our brain that go off when we are in a situation involving fear, and we would never want to turn that off (insert earlier comment of standing on the edge of a cliff), however, we can’t let those transmitters go off every time we need to make a phone call to someone we don’t know or travel to a city that we have never been to. I feel I need to make a disclaimer here, fear and cautiousness are not the same things. We can let ourselves be fearless and push ourselves to go beyond our comfort zones while still being cautious. The world is full of many areas where we need to be smart and aware. To be fearless is to push past the mental limitations that we put on ourselves, numb our normal thoughts and look at life through an unfiltered perspective not allowing ourselves to be the ones to hold us back. Being cautious on the other hand, is being smart and observant. It’s not allowing ourselves to become naïve to the world around us.
Take the Step
I feel like this overlaps confidence in a very subtle way, like when people say they can smell a hint
of chocolate in their espresso beans. Being fearless is believing in your capabilities. It’s giving ourselves time and allowing ourselves to take deep breaths, then walking forward, even if we are still scared. Now, I don’t want to come across as a hypocrite, all of the things I have said are still things I have to remind myself of daily. Fear tries to consume us constantly, but do we allow it too? Although there are some days I let it consume me, it’s the response I give that will map out my future. If I allow myself to let fear take the reins, I have to remember that hard things, decisions, and conversations are inevitable. So do I face them now or let myself stew over it for a while and have to talk myself up to do those tasks even more? It’s taking that fearless step forward and dealing with the outcome knowing one of the hard parts is now over. It’s funny how when we become older our fearless actions turn into the phrase “adulting”. As soon as someone says “welcome to adulthood” or “it’s called adulting”, the ability for us to show a range of fear becomes perhaps childish. But, let’s be real adulting is hard and there are many avenues that fear can creep in, even if the task may be normal or easy for someone else and that’s ok to admit.
Opinion
Fearless isn’t just a Taylor Swift song. It is a word to live by. To live fearlessly will enhance our opportunities in all aspects of life. It is a word that we constantly need to remind ourselves to be. A word that will forever be a struggle to accomplish and in all honesty, will never be perfected. God created us with the ability to feel fear for our safety, but also to show our strength and perseverance to push ourselves beyond what we feel comfortable with. To push past our fears, whether that is as big as chasing our dream job, location, or person or as small as taking our car to the shop, taking a solo walk, or making a doctor's appointment for ourself. Some things may seem silly, but the more we live fearlessly, the easier the hard tasks will feel.
I want to live fearlessly in the pursuit of all tasks, going beyond myself and the thoughts that hold me back. This post went into the motivational speaker theme, but I found this topic relevant since I have it permanently resting on my wrist. Thanks for reading and, like always, I hope you enjoyed your week! I love it when you share your feedback on the posts and appreciate it so much when you share it with someone! Don’t forget to follow along on Instagram and subscribe to receive each new post in your inbox! Have an amazing weekend, Allie-Cats.
Dru Allie
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