It is a common misunderstanding that a brave man is a man without fear. That is not true. Such a man is a fool; in a war he would be the first soldier to die. The brave man is afraid, but defeats his fear, doing what he has to do anyway. Being afraid makes him careful and intensifies his sensory perception; his mind becomes clearer, his concentration stronger, and his reflexes faster. Both mind and body are in a state of increased awareness and efficiency. Fear is essential, even crucial for survival. But it has to be combined with self-control, lest it leads astray completely and becomes a liability, a barrier to growth.
In modern life, many fears are out of all proportion to the corresponding risks. Sometimes there is no risk at all. One of the most common of these fears is to be afraid of failure, often to the extent that an attempt is never made. Usually it has nothing to do with the task of the moment, but everything with the loss of prestige or self-esteem a failure would cause. Yet failures are as mistakes: we can learn from them. Not doing that is a shame, but a failure is not.
Another widespread fear is that of the unknown. Justified to a degree, it is hardly kept within reasonable limits in most cases. It is always easy habitually to choose the safest and best-known course, for no other reason than slight unease or sheer indolence. But if you never take a step into the unknown, if you never tread a new path, you will stop growing. You will never discover anything new, and never learn anything.
I do not mean that one should unreflectedly throw oneself into everything that turns up, just because it is new. That is foolhardy, and would rapidly destroy one's life, one way or another. There are other values to consider, some of which might take precedence. Habitually avoiding the unknown, however, even in small things, when no other cherished values are threatened, and when there is no actual risk, but doing it just because it is easy; that is foolish too.
(This article is based on material previously published in Meriondho Leo and in my e-book “Reality & Mind”)
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I love taboo topics like this!