To me, to be brave means to face your fears. I feel that as human beings, we tend to take this act of bravery for granted and not acknowledge those who have managed to overcome their fears. Some fears that other people face may sound irrational to us. Hence, we are prone to react in a negative manner when someone expresses their fears. Unknowingly, we may hurt them and make them feel more inferior by passing statements such as, "Grow up! It's nothing".
Well, I have to admit that I have passed such remarks before as a joke, without realizing the impact that it may have on someone. It's only now that I realized how wrong I was in doing so as at the end of the day, no two people are the same. We are all unique, with different fears, some which may seem trivial to others but big in our eyes.
Fear is man's greatest enemy and it requires a lot of courage to face them head on. If not dealt with, fear would eat you up and prevent you from pursuing your dreams. Fear is also a game of the mind, a psychological battle. Each time you're afraid, ask yourself why and write down those reasons. You will realize that some of the reasons are irrational but nonetheless, you're still afraid. Then, figure out how and when you developed the fear. Once you have all this written down, you will be able to put things into perspective and facing those fears would be a lot easier.
However, let me tell you that it also takes a lot of courage and bravery to be honest with yourself in answering those 'whys and hows'. As human beings, we all have an ego-defensive mechanism to protect ourselves from being hurt and from facing reality. Thus, it takes courage to break our ego and to tell ourselves the truth. Once you are able to do this, half the battle of facing your fear is over.
The 2nd half of the battle involves action- to face your fears. Depending on circumstances and the magnitude of the fear to the individual, one has to decide on how to face those fears. Taking small steps at a time would help but let's just say that you're afraid of doing something that would only come once in a lifetime. Are you going to let that opportunity to slip away just because of your fear? Are you going to allow fear to take charge or are you going to take charge? Consider all the repercussions of the decision you are about to make. Think wisely.
10 years down the road when you look back, are you going to regret the decision you made to not face your fears? Also, during this period of confronting your fears, just think about "what's the worst hat could happen if I were to do this?". It's important for your answers to be rational and it would be best to get those closest to you to evaluate it. By doing this, you will be prepared for the worst and at the same time, you will be more optimistic as most probably, your 'wild imagination' of the worse ase scenario would be irrational.
My father once told me this: 'You will not know your true potential until you're challenged'. Fear is your enemy and it's challenging you, acting as a barrier from self-discovery and from allowing you to believe in yourself. Knowing this, you have to gather all the courage and bravery in you to face it. The only way to get rid of your fear is to face it!
Trust me, once you have overcome your fears, you will feel a sense of liberation. You are finally free from those chains of fear that bounded you from doing things that you have always wanted to do. As for myself, only after confronting some of my fears, I could finally digest my father's words: "Only the sky and destiny is your limit. Don't let anything else stop you".
Be brave and face your fears!
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