Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Fear: Do or Die

• Posted by Hannah at 2:23 PM
• 1 Comments

"Imagine: Two people in a room, the first person, Bob, is bent on creating a famous quote. His friend, Frank, is trying to help.

Bob: “Ooh! What about this? You have nothing to fear, but fear itself.”

Frank: “But Bob! What about spiders? Because, you know, I really don’t like spiders, and I’m really afraid of them.”

Bob: “Alright. Then you have nothing to fear, but spiders…and fear itself.”

Frank: “But Bob! What about snakes? You know, there are some really poisonous snakes, and I really don’t like them, in fact, I’m downright scared of them.”

Bob: “Ok. Then you have nothing to fear but, spiders, snakes…and fear itself.”

*Five hours later*

Bob: “So what you’re telling me, is that there is nothing to fear but, spiders, snakes, the dark, clowns, hippopotamus’, peanut butter, books, string, trees, lighthouses, fish?…and fear itself!”

Frank: “But Bob! What about things like, rejection, failure, pain, disappointment?”

[HT to Adam Hardy for the intro idea. This was part of his Original Oratory for NCFCA competition this past year.]

Someone asked me recently, “What would you attempt to do if you did not fear failure?” I felt as though I had been hit over the head with a baseball bat. The question made me stop and think. Think hard. If I were to compile a list of every opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience, which I have rejected due to my fear of failure, the size of my list would rival Webster’s Dictionary. The times in which I have turned down the chance to offer an encouraging word to a hurting person– when I shirked from giving a gentle rebuke to a friend when one was needed, when I did not share the Gospel for fear of ridicule, or when I ignored the opportunity to serve because it would remove me from my comfort zone–are staggeringly abundant."

Labels: fear, trust