the only thing we fear is fear itself.
been reading some wonderful buddhist and philosphical literature of late (my school library is truly a cove). what struck me was that the notion of fear is something which arrests our progress and prolongs suffering, the greatest of which is the fear of loneliness. we convince ourselves that we have to rely on others or even a special someone to help us through this when truth is, if we actually stop to reflect and recount, there were so many episodes and crises we overcame on our own.
it could be that first bike ride, the first swim, balancing on skates, facing the dentist for that first extraction, the first day at school, the BCG injection, the first overnight camp, the first rollercoaster ride, the first major exam, the first failure, that first trip alone on an airplane, that sexual encounter, the near-death experience, that first drive, the first accident, the first vehicle breakdown on a highway, the first job interview, the first time on an operating table, the first public speech, traversing across japan solo, performing live to a club of hecklers, touching a snake, crossing a rapid, diving 300 feet with hammerheads, rockclimbing 150 feet despite acrophobia, learning you have diabetes at 24, facing a judge for a long overdue speeding ticket, spending hours in a lock-up, facing a pack of wild dogs at 3am, that first birth of a premature baby, nursing an infant for the first time, the first love, that first marriage, the first divorce, the first time living alone. All these are the sum of all parts which we faced alone.
And when we take stock of it like this, isn't it amazing how we still live to tell?
and here's how even a young child understood it at 8
something Joelle drew years ago (which i still have pinned on my work cubicle)
she wanted to assure me when i was worried she wasn't making friends at school.
i'm so glad i scanned these things =]
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i should tattoo this on my arm in my own handwriting haha
