We all feel it sometimes.
It creeps up on us when we least expect it, to whisper in our ear. It makes us doubt ourselves, to feel like we aren’t smart/attractive/talented enough. We don’t have a chance of achieving that dream. If we take that risk, the worst is bound to happen.
Sometimes we brush off the doubts and don’t allow them to affect us.
But on the bad days, they can push us off course. They can stop us from living our dreams.
If we don’t take that chance, then we won’t risk being hurt. No one can tell us that our best effort isn’t up to standard. They can’t criticise our work, or undermine our goals. They won’t laugh at us or write cruel things in the comments section.
But if we give in to The Fear, we give it power over us. It has a hold on our soul.
We might think that we’re avoiding the pain of potential failure, and maybe we are, for a time. But, ultimately, it will find us. Instead of a dramatic fall, we’ll experience a growing malaise; that sense that we missed out on something we wanted so intensely. It will swell slowly inside us until it becomes overwhelming. It happens so gradually, it can be hard to notice; until it’s too late.
Pushing past our fears is challenging. Some people never manage it. We’re all afraid of something, and it’s unlikely that we will conquer every doubt that flickers through our minds late at night. We wouldn’t be human without our fears.
But it’s important to try; because some things are worth the trouble. And the more we refuse to listen to our fears, the more we overcome them, the more we grow as people.
We are good enough. We don’t have to be afraid.