Living in Fear (Podcast #1)

(NOTE: Welcome to my first attempt at podcasting alongside a blog post. The message is the same. Listen or read. Your choice. Since I cannot meet all of you, I wanted to connect in a more human manner. Let me know how you like it! Thanks everybody...Hope) 

OR - http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/103440643

Living in Fear

Anybody who's followed me for long knows that I latch a hold of inspirational sayings. I assume that whatever motivates me, also has a strong chance of motivating you. I ran across this one today and that spark started smoking in my brain....the one that makes me flip into my blog and post an idea before it flits away. The saying goes like this:

Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.

    ~Les Brown

Few things sadden me more than seeing people not use their talent. Sometimes that talent is hidden behind a rusty lack of use, or it hasn't been unearthed for fear of where it would take the owner. Heck, someone may not know whether they have talent or not, because they haven't tried. Taking a detour from the life they already have in place is scary, or the person just doesn't have the nerve to turn the wheel onto a new road.

Or somewhere along the way, in using our talent, we got shot down, and we are afraid of stepping back up to the task and making another attempt. Getting shot down stings. Sometimes we outright bleed from the damage. At that time, all we want to do is crawl home and forget about what happened.

We don't like being criticized. Who likes being told he's wrong? So we dodge that criticism, and in doing so, we dodge the dream. We avoid using our talent. Actually....we are just living our fears.

Life is full of ups and downs. We love the ups--hate the downs--and are satisfied finding a level middle ground where nothing unsettles us. But avoiding the pain means avoiding the ecstasy. 

Why do you think you enjoy movies and books where the bad guy faces impossible odds, loses face, gets damaged, almost dies, then somehow climbs out of the hole, cobbles his life together and figures out how to come out on top?

We want that! Or at least, we want the good part at the end. But we can't get that without taking the journey.

Frankly, those stories are your temporary fix--your escape--your dose of what could be your life. But many of use leave the theatre or close the book, and remain planted where we are. Call it head-in-the-sand or call it wanting an easy life, but I know you. You are not much different than the rest of the world. You want your life to be meaningful. You'd like to stand for something or be remembered or build a legacy. You want to feel good that you lived.

Avoiding your dreams, and the struggles that come with it, is choosing to live in fear. Choose to live happy. Choose to live with purpose. In that effort, you choose NOT to live in fear.