H
aving no fear is impossible! I laugh every time I see one of those tee shirts that declare NO FEAR in big white letters on a dark background. I figure the kids wearing them are reminding themselves that fear must not rule their lives.
In our human dimension, we cannot not FEAR. Fear is a part of the human condition. We might call it worry, frustration, or pain, but without it there would be no need for the virtue of fortitude; courage. Our lives demand courage. We all know people who say they have no fear, but in the final analysis, they are really saying they just don't care and claim that it is equal to having no fear. However, it has nothing to do with not caring. Everyone cares about something sometime, and caring by its very nature fosters the possibility of loss and loss fosters fear.
The question is, "How do we come to deal with fear?" The fear of losing a job, the fear of losing a relationship, the fear of losing a retirement nest egg. (If having one is even possible in this economy.) Then, there is the fear of death. Fear, Fear, Fear!
Second to death, research shows that public speaking is one of the greatest fears. That research could include me! From my first speech in third grade about the anatomy of the body to this very moment, the fear of being in front of a group haunts me. As you might be aware, my career has been speaking to groups at over 3000 conferences. The fear is still there and my humanness says that it will always be there; deal with it.
A number of years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity of riding from the airport to a speaking engagement with Art Linkletter, TV/Radio personality and author of "Kid's Say the Darndest Things." I was to speak after him to over 1000 people in a stadium. As we rode along, I asked him about the fear of speaking and he declared, "We all have butterflies. The difference is, I have my butterflies trained to fly in formation and yours are crashing into each other.
So, how do we get our butterflies to fly in formation? There is a simple Truth that states: "The clearer the objective in our life, the less the effect of fear." The clearer your purpose or mission is defined, the more courage and passion you have in life. These work in combination to reduce the devastating effect of fear. There is an important side bar here. Note; courage and passion do not drive mission, but clarity of mission drives our courage and passion. When someone asks what you are passionate about and you are embarrassed that you don't know remember, it is because you don't know what your life is about. Seek to find a clear definition of your purpose. You then will reduce the effect of fear while fostering a heightened level of courage and passion.
