Dear Steemians,
Thank you! I see how much you enjoyed my last note to you; On the Edge of a Broken Dream.
I was especially happy at the feedback and the insightful comments it inspired. Hopefully, I was able to start some on their way to getting off that edge before they take the dive.
This week, I am sending you another note to help you realize another edge that could be damaging to your prospect, progress and prosperity; the fear of the unknown.
To understand the ‘unknown’, I will give you a figurative instance. There are many ways this could go or options one could consider in reality but kindly indulge me.
Imagine you are standing on a high mountain in a thick foggy weather.
Why would you be there in the first place? Let us assume the weather caught you unawares atop the mountain. Like I said earlier; kindly indulge me.
I shall now continue.
Your goal was to reach the peak and there is still some way to go to get there but the fog obstructs your view of what is beyond the very point you are standing.
You have never been on this mountain, perhaps no one or very few have, as such it is largely unexplored grounds for you.
Chances are, if you take a step further, you may or may not find good grounds beneath your feet. For all you know, you may be stepping onto air and since you neither have superman powers nor is he around to save you, you are going to trip and fall.
From such a high point, you may as well be dead before you hit the ground.
Or...
One or two steps further from where you stand, is the peak which is your goal. The ground beyond the point where you stand is totally safe but you have no way of knowing that. Asides the fog, this is completely new grounds to you. You wanted to go on an adventure; explore new grounds and here you are.
You could always go back the way you came but that would not only mean that you would not reach that peak but with the fog, you cannot be sure how well that would go either.
What do you do?
Scared of the unknown, you decide to stay put at that point where you now stand; waiting till whenever the fog clears.
Not realizing you may lose sight of or interest in that goal by the time it does, you stay put; waiting and telling yourself reasons why you should not go further.
Fear keeps You Grounded.
FEAR KEEPS YOU GROUNDED.
Do you agree? Yes? Good!
You don't? Allow me help you do, if you would please think seriously on what I am about to ask and say to you.
Take a walk down memory lane.
Has there ever been something you wanted to do; a business you wanted to invest in, a love interest you wanted to take a chance on, a risk you wanted to take…
Pause!
Did you notice anything with/in my questions?
You didn’t?
Here is what you should have noticed; the continual use of "wanted to".
What does that connote?
Since we are down memory lane, I can confidently tell you that "wanted to" used here means that you had started thinking of doing that(those) thing(s); mentally, you had begun to visualize taking that step but your guess is as good as mine, you never did. You never got to do that “thing”.
Why?
Come back to the present.
Is there something you would really love to do but have been procrastinating?
Is it a thing you’ve only just recently thought of doing but already, you have made up a thousand and one reasons in your head why you shouldn't?
Why?
Does the voice in your voice repeatedly tell you; This Cannot Work!.
Why?
Why? Why? Why?
The answer is pretty simple; the fear of the unknown; the fear of failure; the fear that comes with not knowing the end from the beginning.
In summary; FEAR.
Allow me chip in something about myself here. I am an over-thinker or I at least used to be a very good one.
Is there a word like that? Here is what I mean.
Before I make a move or take a step, I usually expend lots of time weighing the pros and cons; thinking of the advantages and disadvantages.
It began to seem like I had made a habit of finding reasons to discourage myself from doing things I really wanted to. I would by default give more thought to and subsequently cringe at the disadvantages, forgetting the advantages. Too often, I ended up not doing those things.
What Thoughts Keep You Grounded?
What questions run through your head that keep you from moving forward?
Feel free to add some of yours below in the comment section. Here are some examples:
What if I fail? What if it does not work out?
What would people say?
What effect will this have on my future should I fail?
Should I fail, how do I find the morale to begin again?
Should I not wait for Mr A to try this first?
Hey! Mr A tried this and failed. He even got laughed at. How then can I pursue this?
Do I have what it takes to pursue this? What if I cannot finish what I started?
When all these thoughts keep going round and round in your head, it is just a matter of time before you conclude;
I cannot do this.
I will fail.
It cannot work.
'This' would happen if I did this, hence I cannot take the risk.
People would have a field day talking and making jest of me.
There it all ends and you wind up not doing it.
Chances are that in time, you come across someone who succeeded at that which you were afraid to pursue because he, unlike you had the courage to pursue.
Then comes your moment of regrets.
Had I known.
That could have been my own golden opportunity.
Blah, blah, blah...
Inspiration
It is about time I told you what inspired this article.
The above picture is a screenshot of a comment made by 
Without doubt, the comment struck a chord in me which led to the birth of this article.
!Do not forget to leave your comment. Who knows? Yours may birth my next article.
I read that short and simple comment many times over and with each time, realization crept up on me.
It is true that there is no sure way of knowing if our cases would not have been the exceptions but there remains a truth in what
Most of the things we are afraid of never happen at the end of the day!
Think of those things you enjoy now that you had had doubts about but uneasily went ahead to do them anyways. Those things which the doubts you used to have about them have proved unnecessary. As it turned out, you were simply having cold feet at testing uncharted grounds.
Do you have such things in your life? Then you understand.
Do you not? Well, do take my word for it.
What is the difference between these realized ones and the unrealized ones you allowed your fears dampen?
Answer: the courage to pursue; the courage to step out of your comfort zone and pursue.
Develop the Courage to Pursue
JUST DO IT
-Nike
The famous Nike brand’s slogan is JUST DO IT.
Once, a very successful and popular figure gave an opportunity to his followers on Instagram to ask him questions with the assurance that he would do his best to answer at least two hundred of them.
He kept his promise and answered ‘just do it’ to a question about one of the life lessons he had learnt that had contributed to his success and which he would take to heart if he were given a chance to begin his life’s journey anew.
Many of the worries or fears we have when about to embark on a new venture only serve to keep us grounded or stop us from doing that which has the potential to be our “golden” venture.
Note the use of "potential". That is my way of telling you that my words only apply to meaningful ventures.
"Just do it" used here does not suggest that you should leap before you look even if going out of your comfort zone or testing uncharted grounds could mean taking a step in blind faith.
No, by all means, look before you leap but make sure you are looking at the right facts and looking for the right reasons.
If you are looking because you are hoping to find excuses to stay put in stagnancy, then you are looking for the wrong reasons.
Ditch pessimism. Embrace optimism.
Make sure that what keeps you from going forward is not the fear of the unknown; the fear of diving into untested waters; the fear of failure.
You cannot see the end from the beginning. Why let your fears tell you how the end would be?
Does trying it guarantee you will not fail? No! It doesn’t.
Like Abraham Lincoln, you may even fail a few times but trying it also means there is a chance you could succeed. Why throw that chance away when you could pursue and catch success?
Failure is not the end. It is a kind of progress when you fall but find the strength to rise again and push on; a new lesson in hand.
It is okay to be scared or afraid. Who would not be? But it is not okay to allow your fears hinder what might as well be the breakthrough you have been awaiting.
Which is why you should develop the courage to pursue.
Can I guarantee that you will not fail if you pursue that dream that looks too big to be achieved?
Who am I? God? Fate? Destiny? A seer? I am neither of those. As such, I am sorry, I cannot guarantee it.
So what am I saying when I cannot guarantee you success at trial?
I am saying you should have the courage to pursue that dream or goal that looks too large or fearful to surmount. It is not as easy as it sounds but you can conquer fear everyday, a step at a time until it becomes a force of habit.
There is no harm in trial.
Will you succeed if you try? Who knows?
Perhaps you would let me know later how it turned out.
Images were obtained from pixabay
See you next time.