I disagree.
It is human nature to reach beyond what we are. Flying is just one example.
Having been married to a pilot for some years, I am well aware of the fact that a fair number of pilots are scared of heights. These pilots train and learn to control not only their aircraft but also their own responses to precarious situations. They do this not because they are unaffected by the sensation of heights, but because they refuse to be enfeebled by it. They choose to act rather than react.
These men and women understand, through practice and tactile experience, that fear is a learned response, and it can only be unlearned by deliberate action.
It is a lesson that applies to all of us. Because we all fear something.
Every person will at some point or another hold back instead of moving forward; make an easier choice when a difficult one would have been better; turn away from a destiny.
Fear is the worst form of doubt, it extinguishes hope, trust, loyalty, honor. It destroys our potential for greatness, both collectively and individually. Fear keeps us standing still instead of moving toward our goals and aspirations, both big and small.
When this happens to me, I take a moment to remember that I have had the privilege
...of hearing thunder while it was snowing.
...of seeing rain fall through the fog.
...of hearing old men tell tales of fish falling from the desert sky.
I have had the privilege
...of glancing up into the jungle canopy, to find myself staring face to face with a spider monkey, our fingertips mere inches from touching.
...of witnessing flocks of grackles swarming the skies over my home, flocks of Red-breasted Robins scouring a field for worms after a rainstorm, flocks of green parrots flying higher than the rising sun.
Fear does not dwell in these moments. Serenity dwells in these moments, and serenity is the exact opposite of fear.
