Almost every day someone I talk to, call, text, or email says to me “You are doing such wonderful things with your life, I wish that I could”. I always ask what is keeping them from living a life that they would prefer. The first response I usually get sounds something like “Oh….well I’m married now”,”I want to start having children”, or “I just don’t think I could ever be brave like you”.
I like to continue pressing in and see what makes people believe that those things are keeping them from a different life, and usually it comes back to the same core answer.
FEAR.
“What if I fail?”
“My family won’t understand.”
“I already have my life set up here.”
We as a people have been conditioned to fear the unknown, the new, the different. We have been taught to fear life itself. As children, we are raised with the notion that our future’s consist of a college degree, a spouse, a white picket fence, and a family of our own.
Those are all wonderful aspirations to have in life but that doesn’t mean that we can’t expect more.
I only have about 80 years to live my life on Earth, if I’m lucky. I want to make the most of it that I can. Most of my life up until this point, my decisions have been made on fear. I stuffed my dreams down because I thought that part of being an adult was to not expect too much, for FEAR of not reaching the goal. I’ll be honest, living that way has not given me any satisfaction.
So what if I fail? I can always keep trying. I have only just started pushing away my fear and my life is already vastly different. I’ve accomplished childhood dreams that most people never see happen in a lifetime, and I’m only 24! That gives me even more hope for all of the things that I want to see done in my lifetime.
I crave to do something that makes a difference in the world we live in. I no longer want to sit on the sidelines and see the pain of the world, shrug my shoulders and say, “I wish I could help”. I want to be in the thick of the mess, the anger, rage, and pain that people are feeling. To be a lighthouse for those lost at sea. To be a shoulder for others to lean on when life seems hopeless.
My warning to you if you choose to pursue living a life not being ruled by fear: it is a choice that must be made every single day. Just because you say that you want to see something happen doesn’t mean it is effortless. I know that I have to face some of my biggest fears almost daily. By opening myself up for the possibility of being told “no” when I ask for financial support, of hateful messages that tell me that I’m wasting my time. Those responses still make me question myself, especially when hearing it from someone close to me. But so far, I have always come to the same conclusion…that the life that I want to live means more to me than someone else’s opinion of the life that they want me to live.
Some will choose to play it safe, to live the life that society says we should want. To fear anything unknown, different, or new.
The price for living such a life is simple. It only costs you your dreams.
“We’re living in a desperate time, waking up to dreaming of a better life. We won’t give up. Our love is like a warning sign, revealing of a life that’s all brand new if only we can see it through. So reach to the sky, the life we have has come. This night of our lives, we’ve only just begun.”-The Moment We Come Alive, Red
