Fear that drives

We all are afraid of something in our lives. We have fears like, “What if I don’t get through the exam?”, “What if I don’t reach the place in time?”, “What if I am not in good health in my later years?”

We are typically asked to avoid all kinds of fear.

What I feel is, certain fear is good and it is a beautiful thing. It is beautiful because, it drives us.

Doesn’t make sense?

Well, I’ll put it this way.

Supposedly, I am afraid of not reaching a place in time. What will I do?

I will naturally plan ahead, start early, skip the traffic and reach the place well ahead.

So; had I not feared, I have high chances of getting late, getting stuck in traffic.

‘Fear is always a good motivator’, says James Dyson and

Robin Sharma says, ‘If you’re not scared a lot, you’re not growing very much’.

Yes. It does make sense.

We need to have a “little constructive fear”, as I like to call it. Like how it is said, “Courage is not the absence of fear”, courage is rather the ability to overcome the fear, in order to achieve something greater.

I remember reading somewhere in a book where a great orator is asked if he doesn’t have fear at all when facing a large crowd. He replied that he was always afraid, afraid whether he would pull it off as usual. So, he said he prepared well.

And this I think, is what overcoming fear is and that made him greater every single time.

My dad always says, when he teaches me to drive, that to always expect someone from every intersecting road, so that I can be ready for any situation. Likewise, fear is something that keeps us ready for any unexpected twist. It helps us think about all the possible ways of things going wrong and makes us correct them beforehand.

So, it is good to have some fear. A little fear that is constructive and that which can push us a little further ahead. That fear is good.

That fear, that drives.