Jake terHorst

Christina Ivey

COMM 160-001

28 September 2017

September Blog Post

             “Fear is what makes us great”. This is a quote from page 61 of Man Up, by Andres Gomez. Most people in the world would not agree with this quote. And most people live their life in the opposite fashion, where fear makes them worse. No matter what side you believe, you could be right. Both viewpoints are true, with just one factor making all the difference- courage. The courage to overcome that fear is what turns fear into a great motivator. Without it, that fear would keep you from whatever you had set out to accomplish. From that same page, Gomez says that ‘courage is never the absence of avoidance of fear; it is a deep inhalation of it- a frightened shallow breath turned into a powerful shout or belted song note”. Harnessing that fear and turning it into strength makes all the difference in the world. Fear is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by expectation or awareness of danger”. But, as Gomez states, fear can only occur when there is something to be gained or lost. Whether it is being afraid of a big public speech, or afraid to play in the championship game, or afraid of what your crush might say, fear can only happen when there is something on the line. Fear can also be that hindrance that keeps you from winning what’s on that line. That is why Gomez stresses in his book to channel that fear. When he made that decision to be so obsessively motivated to overcome his fears, that is what has pushed him to the successful stage that he is now at. After all of those childhood fears, which he found different ways to cope with, starting with the night-light, he excelled because he pushed past. I just hope that I can muster up that same courage to channel my fear, and use it in a way that benefits me.