PRINCIPLES FOR PERSONAL GROWTH, CHANGE,
AND TRUE SUCCESS IN OUR LIFE AND SERVICE TO
OTHERS
How to become all we can be and live at peace in our
world.
Principle
8 - Successful living requires that we have the courage
and faith to take action in the presence of our
fears.
Remember fear
kills everything. Yes, it kills everything.
It kills hopes, aspirations, and dreams. It kills
relationships, confidence, and creativity. It can
kill our joy and rob us of our happiness. It can
even kill our health and take our life. “Scared to
death” is not just a figure of speech; it can become a
reality.
Think about what you might be able to achieve if you were
not afraid. What keeps us from so many of the
adventures that could change our lives? It’s fear
-- fear of failure, rejection, abandonment, loss, and
many others. There are many things that can make us
fearful, but true success and peace of mind comes down to
having the courage to take action in the face of our
fears. When we do, we will eventually come to the
place where even though we may not be fearless, we are
“fearing less.” You see, it all comes down to
courage.
But how do we do that? Courage grows when we know
that we are in a safe place. Our courage grows when
we know we are heard, loved, accepted, and not
alone. Our courage and confidence grows as we take
risks, overcome obstacles and achieve our goals.
Our courage increases when we live by faith; the faith
that there is a deep benevolence at the core of the
universe. Courage makes us unstoppable when we know
that even though our bodies may be pierced and broken,
that our souls can remain
untouched.
The thinker-educator, Parker Palmer, reminds us that we
will always have fears, but that
we do not have to become our fears. Thousands of years
ago, the poet of the ancient Psalms said, ”Even though I
go through the deepest darkness, I will fear no evil… the
Lord God is strength of my life, of whom shall I be
afraid.”
So as we seek growth, positive change, and true
success,
we need to remember that
successful living requires that we have the courage and
faith to take action in the presence of our
fears.