Nike was wrong. Feel the fear and do nothing.
I am feeling the fear.
And noticing what it feels like.
Every day since Jan 20th, I promised myself I would not give in to fear. I would not just prattle on about things. I would look for the hope and what I could effect. I would find out what great things others were doing.
That lasted about a month before I caved.
I took a pause and just observed the fear. I located where I felt it in my gut. I noticed that my stomach gets really tight and I feel a bit nauseated.
I started noticing something else about fear.
It is everywhere, every day. It is our constant, albeit a behind the scenes companion.
My partner and I were talking tenderly about our fears about potential dealbreakers in our relationship. We fear love because it makes us so, so vulnerable.
My daughter was afraid she wasn't going to get the job she really wanted.
We fear failure and we fear success.
I remember when my kids were growing up that gnawing fear I always had should any harm fall upon them. We fear our loved ones could be hurt and we could be unable to protect them.
When my first husband and I split up, I was in deep emotional pain and it took me many months to feel hope again. I was so afraid that the pain would consume me. We fear the pain of heartbreak.
I have a client who is so afraid of the pain that her illness will bring that she can hardly think of anything else, even though she desires a sense of completion about her life and her death. We fear physical pain.
We fear death. That is the ultimate fear.
What I know for sure is I can hold the fear. No matter the source of the fear - personal or political.
The fear co-exists with other companions including hope, courage, persistence and love.
We will continue.
Photo by Shubham Mittal