FACING FEAR

This poster has been hanging on my wall for at least the last 3 years but this idea has been in my mind for a lot longer than that. Every day I see this poster. Every day I ask “What am I too afraid to do today?” At first thought of this question, many might think a bit surface level. Maybe I’ll learn how to cook weird foods. Maybe I’ll fly more and travel to new places.

Then I started asking myself for more. Stop caring about what others think. Ask for more out of work. Play a new sport, break bones, opt for surgery. Buy my first new car, acquire debt. Soo maybe some of these were unavoidable…

I first heard about this poster from Ben Barry, who was part of Facebook’s Analog Research Laboratory. He printed and posted these up in the Facebook offices and it inspired some of his fellow coworkers to answer the question. Sit around in my underwear and eat cereal. Simply walk into Mordor. Rid the world of evil. It even became a website you can fill out and see other peoples' ideas.

What does it mean to really look fear in the face and do whatever you want to do anyways? Quit your job? Go back to school? Write a book? Adopt a puppy? Eat all your vegetables? If you never try, will you ever know?

Tomorrow I set out on my next big “what would you do if you weren’t afraid?” Not only traveling solo, traveling cross country, camping, depending on the kindness of other people and depending on my own skills and ability to adapt. Tomorrow I look fear in the face and tell it to eat my shorts!

What would you do?