Fear Has No Cape

Previously I wrote about how we should embrace our past and use it to make positive changes to affect our future. I am about halfway through my life (if all goes well) and it’s a nice place to be as I can look back over my “first half” and use this perspective in forming how I will live my “second half”. (most people are constantly evaluating and changing without even thinking about it)

But wouldn’t it be helpful if we could go forward in time to the very end of our lives, to the end of our “2nd half”, capture our future perspective and use that information to positively affect our current mindset?

Author Bronnie Ware worked as a palliative care nurse and cared for needs of people who were coming to the end of their lives. She wrote The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying. Bronnie found reoccurring themes in the discussions she had with her patients. According to Bronnie, here are the top 5 regrets of the dying:

1. “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
2. “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
3. “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
4. “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
5. “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

Two of the top three regrets of people at the end of their lives are centered around courage.  Courage to be true to oneself and courage to communicate openly.

Courage is fear defeated. 

Too often we live our lives from a point of fear. We lack the perspective of the dying. We are intimidated by our circumstances. In the moment our fear seems logical and justified. But later on, when we look back, our fear seems ridiculously silly.

So how do we invoke our courage and defeat our fears? If we live life from a point of fear, we will never chase our dreams, we will never fulfill our potential. We will be paralyzed until we die.

• Have awareness from where you are basing your decisions/behavior. Know when you are making a decision based in fear
• Understand that failure is a stepping stone to success. Get okay with failing
• Never lose sight of the fact that life is short. It gets shorter every day, so what do you have to lose?
• Trust yourself. Trust your instincts. Trust your intuition. Trust your guidance
• Have faith in God

Author Iyanla Vanzant says that you are not living life big enough unless you have a little pee running down your leg. (sorry no pictures for this)

Now go pee on yourself a little bit and have a great day!