In life, everything great and worthwhile is placed on the other side of fear. And because it’s easier to use our fear as an excuse for inaction, most of us deprive ourselves of the better things we could have. Even when what we get is “big”, within ourselves, we know we could’ve gotten “bigger”, except for our fears. And of course, we seldom share this truth with others.
Ignorance breeds fear. If we don’t know much about a subject, we take hesitant and uncertain steps. Overtaken by the natural desire to know what comes next, and yet unaware of what lies around the corner, leaves us with a feeling we’ve learned to call, “fear.” Walking into a dark room with sharp and sturdy items lying in random places will elicit this same feeling in us. You’ll walk with extreme caution, as you don’t know if the next step you take will land on a sharp and prickly object. Now imagine that
the light is turned on. The need for caution will be reduced as you’d conveniently locate all the harmful objects and more easily navigate your way through them. Basic example? Yes. But it helps drive home the point.
Ignorance is darkness, and knowledge is light. If we get informed about the matter we fear, we introduce light and dissipate the darkness – along with the fear it breeds. Even if the truth we uncover by getting informed about a matter is not pleasing to us, merely “knowing the unknowns” will set us at ease, and perhaps help us accept or duly face the unpleasant realities at hand. The feeling of uncertainty that stems from not having all the facts will also be resolved.
So, learn more about the things you fear. Once the “unknowns” are known, you would have demystified fear, and the work towards solutions – i.e. the journey to the other side of fear – will begin. Everything great is placed on the other side of fear. Knowledge is the bridge from where you currently are, to the other side.
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Ugo is an engineer, and the president of the nonprofit, NEU Gen Leaders. An energetic and dynamic youth leader, he is the author of 2 books – The NEU Era and Secrets of Academic Excellence. He can be reached at [email protected].