Dear Fear:

Dear Fear –

I know you are here, there, and everywhere. I can feel you when you’re standing behind me with a firm grip around my waist but I can also feel when you’re lurking in the shadows. Your job is to protect me. I understand that. But you need to know that I don’t need protection from everything that comes towards me or pulls at me. Not everything that’s scary is dangerous.

If a wild animal, venomous snake or a speeding train should come too close to me, yes, I want you holding on to me and whispering in my ear to be careful. Feel free to shout if the threat is real and there’s a great chance for harm to my being. Absolutely, positively, make yourself known to me! But I doubt that these are going to be daily worries.

If it is merely Curiosity pulling me off the rutted road that leads to the same old place, then please stand back and allow Curiosity to take me by my hand to new places. It was never intended for me to be kept confined to a small space that goes only as far as my arms can reach. I was meant to reach out and explore new territories, going to the edge of each one and seeing what lies beyond that; sometimes I won’t even go that far. Yes, I will stumble and trip and even fall down. I will get bruised, scratched, and cut. My ego will suffer from embarrassment and failure. My feelings will get hurt. But know this…I’m not going to die. I will get up, dust myself off, heal my wounds and move on.

Remember when I was very small and couldn’t do things on my own? Curiosity helped me figure out how to crawl across a room and you sat quietly and watched. Then, when I needed to move faster and reach higher, I learned how to walk. Again, you sat quietly and watched. OK, it was a little less quietly this time, but you were only operating at DEFCON 5 or 4; levels of increased security and readiness. I suffered bumps, falls and tip-overs…and survived…and moved on.

Over the years, you started listening to other people, rather than me, and you were at DEFCON 2. I have to tell you, you got there by listening to bad intelligence reports and therefore overprotected me. You built a fortress and I couldn’t see beyond that big, tall wall that encircled me. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but this was not a good thing. Then, when I turned forty, Curiosity came to the rescue and helped me remove some sections of the wall. I cautiously looked out and saw safe places. I began sneaking out to explore these places. You slowly relaxed and headed back to DEFCON 4. It’s so much better there. Don’t you agree?

So, you can come along on my adventures but you can’t be the guide. Sometimes I’ll allow you to be a scout or a lookout, but I’ll be calling the shots and setting the DEFCON levels. You need to step up your game by stepping back and down. If you are afraid of your own shadow, you are of no use to me.

Please know that you are my friend and I love you.

So, my dear Fear, make friends with Curiosity and Creativity…and enjoy the ride!