fearless

the other day someone described courageousness to me as a movement of one who has fear but is willing to take action anyway.
and then the next day I listened to max lucado being interviewed about his new book, fearless.
obviously the universe was talking to me, so I listened.

max lucado has written more than a handful of books, though I only know two of them well:
a children's book called You Are Special, and a non-children's book called Traveling Light. when I visited his website I was astonished by the number of books he's authored; since I know such a small piece of his body of work, my comments might be skewed a bit.
what I receive from lucado's books is primarily a sense of peace. of rightness, of grace and hope. he writes to heal and to bring peace, to comfort and to direct to a path of Godliness.
not being a terribly religious person, I am still able to connect with his words and beliefs, and feel both safety and freedom in the glow of what he presents to us.

so this latest book, fearless, doesn't really discuss a new topic; the gist remains true to what he always preaches: trust in God, have faith, and be joyful. but this time he approaches his topic from a viewpoint of being fearful, a common viewpoint in these unpredictable and fragile times.
I love the idea of being fearless.
it fills me with quivering energy, delight, confidence, and, I suppose, adrenaline.
each time I take a moment to think about it, I can push fear right out.
but the problem is remembering to take those moments.

years ago I learned to embrace the belief that only two real emotions exist for us humans: fear and love. I like to look at them as motives, however, not just emotions, motives for how we act in the world. again, when I remember, I question myself about whether I am operating from a place of fear, or from a place of love.

I am a complex and as of yet not-fully-enlightened human, and as such still operate from a place of fear more than I'd like to. so given the above, it seems as though my task must be to take a little more time to push fear aside---whether through self-love and support or love for others---and accept that there is no need for fear, at all.

what does this look like in the real world?
when I'm on my way to power camp, knowing the coming workout is HARD and potentially impossible, I remember to tell myself you can do anything, you always survive these, you are capable and perfectly positioned to tackle this challenge today.
it means when I start questioning where my next order is coming from or whether or not I'll be able to collect on delinquent accounts or whether or not next month's bills will be paid, I remember to tell myself, you've made it this far, you always do an excellent job of juggling, your bills always get paid, trust in the support you have out there.

I know that when I overcome fear, I have more fun, achieve greater highs, meet more interesting people, and feel more alive.

I resolve to work on forevermore being fearless.
wanna join me?