February Blog Post

February Blog Post

The quote I’ve chosen this month was from our week six reading of Andres Gomez’ Fear. I really enjoyed reading this chapter and plan on reading the entire book. This chapter was easily relatable for me as I remember fear being a characteristic of my identity as a young child, and how I too actively worked to face my fears head on and conquer them. In fact, I still do today.

A very powerful quote that stood out to me from the reading was, “And courage is never the absence or avoidance of fear- it is the deep inhalation of it- frightened, shallow breath turned in to a powerful shout or belted song note (Gomez, p.61).” To explain this quote in my own words, I believe it is saying that courage is not necessarily being brave or fearless. It is instead the idea of accepting and embracing your fears, dealing with them head on, and overcoming them with confidence. It’s saying that it is okay to be afraid of the unknown or whatever it is you fear, but instead of hiding behind this fear and letting it define you as a person, you conquer that fear by recognizing what it is you’re afraid of, and actively work to overcome it.

An example of fear that I’ve personally overcome, is being alone. I used to apply value to myself based on who and how many people I was surrounded by. If I wasn’t invited to every social function with my friends, my fear of being a loner and left out would bring on fits of anxiety. I behaved in ways that would warrant approval and likeability from my friends. In some situations, I would “dumb myself down” to fit in with certain friends. I changed who I was to fit in with different groups, because god forbid I spend time alone with myself.

After tormenting and exhausting myself for years with this mindset, I can now report that I love being alone. The time I set aside for myself, alone, has been one of the best anti-stress medications I’ve prescribed to myself. I don’t have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) anymore, as I recognize the benefit of personal time and all that I get accomplished physically and mentally in this allotted time. Just because I miss a social event here or there, does not make me a loner. In fact, my quality of life has increased because instead of attending every party, dinner, road trip- I am able to pick and choose the events I want to attend and appreciate them more getting the most out of the experience.

Overall, the idea of facing your fears is a great motto to live by. In addition, instead of hiding behind fear and letting it define your identity, you increase your self-esteem and confidence by dissecting whatever that fear may be, and overcoming it. This is important because as you get older, fears become bigger than something like being afraid of the dark. Situations arise in life that are daunting and take courage to overcome. Having the ability to recognize challenges, or fear, and turn them in to constructive learning experiences will always yield the best results in general, and personally.