All of us are afraid (#903)

There is no doubt about it. We all feel fear at times in our lives. No one is immune. However we do not need to let fear dictate who we are or what we do. We can respect that we have fear and still work through it. Fear does not define us as cowards, instead what we do with the fear in the form of our actions will define us as either cowardly or courageous. We will know which it is since we cannot escape our own judgment. One of the ways I overcome fear is to stand firm for a moment and remember what my principles for living are. We should all take the time to do an inventory on what kind of person we want to be. We have that responsibility to ourselves to imagine a framework of what ideals we will defend regardless of the opposition to them by outside forces. Having a quality of life is far more satisfying than just having a quantity of life. Fear is one of the greatest catalysts in determining what we reflect back out to others. In order for us to control, yes we have a choice, what that reflection will inevitably be, we must have a foundation to draw from. Fear will always be a challenge to every one of us and as such we all must continue to struggle against it with conviction. We are human and have great swings of emotion within us, nevertheless, we are also logical and have the reasoning ability to analyze all that comes our way and devise an opportunity for our high principles of living, ie... honor, justice, compassion, being noble etc..., to manifest an action that overrides fear and displays courage. All of us are capable of presenting the greater instincts within us, it is the lesser instincts that are easy to portray, however great satisfaction is received when we ascribe to be the greater of who we are, through walking through fear into courage.