Fear and Courage

I'm Scared

We've all been here before.

The world is huge. I mean, 7 billion people can't cover all the planet huge. I'm just one single person, and the world is no respecter of persons.

And I'm scared.

Life has a tendency to throw curve balls when we least expect it; usually when life is going best is when we're dealt the worst. Things have been going very well for me lately. I mean, I've been happy, I've been excited for my mission, I've been having fun, things have generally been nice! But yesterday, I was pounded with every fear that could come to my head, and I began to panic. I didn't really tell anyone because I don't want to look like a wimp that can't handle life's afflictions. I was just at work doing my things when it hit me. I'm scared that I can't handle the next 3 months. I'm scared that I'm wasting my life away. I'm scared that I can't handle a mission, that I'm not fit for the calling. Sadly I know the source of my fears and I know that he doesn't really care how it affects me, he just wants to see me fail.

Well I'm not a quitter.

This is one of those moments where I have to decide if I'm going to shrink in the face of adversity, or if I'm going to stand my ground and fight. I choose to fight.

This is the medallion I carry with me in my back pocket. It shows the whole "Armour of God" that we should put on every day. I keep it with me to remind me that I've made a promise to myself and to my Heavenly Father that I will fight on his side and I won't turn my back on Him. So how do we fight when we're scared out of our minds? With courage. You may say that you can't have courage if you have fear. I think Mark Twain put it best:

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."

Yeah. Life's gonna scare you sometimes. You can't hide from fear. It's always there and running is useless. So what do we do? We turn around and face it. Everyone's heard FDR's famous quote "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." I don't like the quote because of how true it is. Usually when we take a step back, we realize that what we fear is nothing we can't face. I am terrified of snakes, but once I'm up against one, I can actually stay pretty composed. I don't run away screaming, I hold my ground. That's what courage is; we don't run, we fight. Even when we face impossible odds, we have to look at the things we fear head on and hold our ground.

"When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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