Fear Not

Fears are preyed upon with every newscast, newspaper, and news-based website. The media boasts about things like swine flu and pandemics, serial rapists and 50 car pile-ups. And they trumpet it out to the world with such grim delivery that you actually think they care.

They do care…but only that we read more. And watch more. And buy more of whatever it is they are selling. From magazines to vaccines to mace sprayers to bigger cars that guzzle more gas and cost more money. All the things that help us quell the very fear they drive into our minds.

No more.

I took this personal oath to follow the samurai way. I have learned to accept death. To live life so fully that I am more than OK with dying. And death sits on top of the food chain of all fears. If you don’t fear death, there is little else you can possibly be afraid of.

I do not fear pandemics. And killers. And natural disasters. I do not fear fear. I do not fear anything. My time will come when it comes. I know that now.

My behavior will no longer be driven by fear. Not anymore. It will be driven by my goals. It will be driven by what I want. Not what I don’t-want-to-have-happen. Not what I’m scared-to-have-happen.

You could shoot me. Stab me. Hang me. Stone me. Scold me. Bankrupt me. Fire me. Humiliate me. You can take away my house in a swooping tornado, and tear it to pieces. Go ahead…do it all. I still will not be deterred in what I know is the right way to live. What I know is the right path to take. My path to glory will not be altered. Not by fear.

So now I don’t fear death…think I’ll be nervous walking into a job interview? Think I’ll be terrified to swing a bat a ‘pressure’ situation…in a game? Do you think I’ll be afraid when I go in to be tested to get my black belt or when I walk into the bar exam? Those now become opportunities to shine. Opportunities to show my mettle. And grit. And determination.

When you don’t fear death, fear of anything becomes laughable.

…well almost anything.

When Miyamoto Musashi said, ‘Have no heart for approaching the path of love,’ I now know why. He was alone and had nothing to lose. And if you are alone and you don’t fear death, you truly have no fears.

But I did not abide by that rule. So I am down to one fear. Yes, I don’t fear what anyone could ever do to me, but I do have a fear of what could happen to my loved ones. And this is not a fear for my loved ones as much, because they have my strength. My only fear is what I will do to anyone or anything that harms them.

Fear nothing else.