This picture is snapped from a page in Ajahn Brahm’s book Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? It’s a great book, pick it up and read it. You won’t regret it.
Think about it for a moment—what do we really have to be afraid of?
Most of what we call fear is manufactured in our heads.
We’re generally afraid of things that haven’t happened yet. Of things that may, and likely will never happen.
Isn’t that silly?
Of course it is. It’s easy to say it’s silly while sitting comfortably in your chair reading these words.
It’s not so silly, however, when you’re nervously trying to wait out the awkward silence after finally asking that pretty girl out, or waiting outside our boss’ office wondering if we’ll be returning to work tomorrow or not.
I’d like to let you in on a little secret.
That pretty girl you just asked out? Chances are she already had an answer before you ever asked. The awkward silence may be her own fear of answering—if her answer was no, how does she break it to you gently. If it’s yes, how does she let you know without seeming either overly excited, or annoyed that you waited so long to ask.
And your boss? We’ll, let’s just say if you’re waiting outside the office, the decision was already made long ago and no amount of fear will change the outcome of that.
The same can apply to just about any situation where we’re experiencing fear.
So do me a favor today. Put fear on notice that it is no longer going to be hanging around.
Understand that your future is uncertain. In fact, that’s the only certainty you can count on; that there will be uncertainty ahead of you.
Make a conscious decision to no longer waste any more of your precious time on fear.