Fear is your friend. Franklin D Roosevelt once said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ The term was coined during in inaugural address in 1933. America was in the grip of the great depression. Its economy was in a downward spiral. It was a time of uncertainty and great peril. A great nation was teetering on the edge of a great precipice. The American people were frightened. Trust had to be restored and hope needed to be delivered. Roosevelt understood that action, any action, would be the only means to restore his nation. I remember first reading about FDR in College. It struck a deep chord with me. I remember how frightened I felt most of the time. The fear of failure has always been the greatest impediment to achieving my dreams. It prevented me from doing so many things, from travelling the globe, to meeting new people, to asking a woman out on …show more content…
I wanted to know everything I could about it. To defeat your enemy, you must first understand it. It became my life long to study the roots of fear and in the end, defeat it. It was a mistake I have regretted ever since. Fear was the foe that required a beat down. I wanted to pummel the damn thing into the ground. How dare it stand in my way. I resisted it, detested it, wanted to be rid of it. The more I fought fear the more it tightened its grip. Looking back, I realised that it was fear that propelled me forward. I was simply misinterpreting its effects. It was the fear of violence that motivated me to attend my first Martial Arts class. The fear of asking a woman out on a date fuelled my actions to set out every day and approach women. Fear is the catalyst of great achievement. It is the nudge that steers us in the right direction. Fear warns us that something is wrong and action needs to be taken to fix it. I no longer view my fear as my enemy. Fear is my friend. My loyal companion. Fear is the whisper that coaxes me to do the right thing and make better