Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drowned your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. [Steve Jobs]
This thought hits a chord in my heart. Here is my problem...
I have fear. A lot of it.
I'm afraid of everything. What people think. What if the house burns down. What am I going to do with my life (now... "our" life). I can't go snorkeling... I'll get eaten by a shark. I can't go float down the river... I'll drown. (this tends to happens with water)
Did you know that fear is a learned behavior. It's true. (Here comes my psychology self...) We are conditioned to fear things. Little Albert anyone?
But I've been asking myself lately...
Is fear worth it?
I decided its not.
It's not productive. It isn't efficient. It doesn't accomplish anything but ulcers. It wastes time, energy, and emotional construct.
Life IS for living.
Life IS NOT for worrying about everything.
I've discovered an even greater appreciation for optimism. Sometimes it can be difficult to muster, but it conquers fear in a split second. I am in love with the observation made in "We Bought a Zoo"...
The word "COURAGE" is my life mantra. It has been for years. And honestly, I love it. I love being reminded that we have one life to live. Sometimes I need the reminder to do those crazy, out of the ordinary, spontaneous, memory-making experiences. Our every-day lives need those.
So here is my little blog post to myself as a reminder. I can do hard things. I can have courage. I will cultivate optimism... and I will enjoy what life has to offer.
