my friend, Fear

fear. its something that has been on my mind a lot lately. i feel like my life is surrounded by it, in almost every aspect.
fear of falling in love.
fear of starting a career.
fear of making the wrong decisions.
fear of aging.
fear of change.
a few days ago a friend sent me this quote by entrepreneur, author and public speaker Seth Godin.

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"Waiting for the fear to subside. There are two problems with this strategy.

A. By the time the fear subsides, it will be too late. By the time you're not afraid of what you were planning to start/say/do, someone else will have already done it, it will already be irrelevant. The reason you're afraid is that there's leverage here, something might happen. Which is exactly the signal you're looking for.

B. The fear certainly helps you do better. The fear-less one might sleep better, but sleeping well doesn't always lead to your best work. The fear can be your compass, it can set you on the right path and actually improve the quality of what you do.

Listen to your fear but don't obey it."

...

this completely changed my perspective.
what a lovely way to view something as daunting as "fear".
i love the idea that fear is there to drive people as opposed to hinder. that it pushes you only to do better and that fear should be embraced, no matter how uncomfortable the feeling may be. so my life filled of fear may be beneficial to me after all.