"Everything that you want is on the other side of your fear" ~ Jack Canfield
For as much as there is to divide us in this world, there is so much more that can bring us together. People, all people, at their very core want basically the same things, need basically the same things, love basically the same things, and fear basically the same things.
Show me a mother and I will show you someone who fears anyone or anything harming a hair on their child's head. Show me a champion and I will show you someone who fears losing a step, costing them the next big fight, big game, or big win. Show me a lover and I will show you someone who is afraid of losing someone, of being lost to someone.
Fear is universal. Everyone, no matter how big or how strong, has something that they are afraid of. It doesn't matter if the things we fear are exactly the same as someone else. It only matters that we recognize that we are not so different from those who we look at as if we are. The elderly woman in front of you in line at the bank, the teenager you walked past on the street today, the man who asked you for your spare change as you left the store, they all have hopes, all have dreams, and yes, all have fears just like you. Your parent, your pastor, your priest, the guy who mows your lawn or the guy who you watch on the evening news, may seem vastly different to you. They don't travel in the same circles or like the same things. But one thing I can tell you is this- at the heart of them, they are all afraid of something- maybe the same things that you are afraid of.
When we start to break down all of the things that make us different, all of the ways in which we divide ourselves from those around us, we are making progress. Progress that can help us search for the things that we do share- the common threads. Those threads are practically universal. Pull on one of those threads and watch as our differences, our prejudices, our contempt, and our judgments unravel. Do this, and we can begin to move closer to a place where we are all... one, unified.
**Join the conversation. This week we are talking to people about their fears. Visit our Facebook page and share your thoughts with us.**
Show me a mother and I will show you someone who fears anyone or anything harming a hair on their child's head. Show me a champion and I will show you someone who fears losing a step, costing them the next big fight, big game, or big win. Show me a lover and I will show you someone who is afraid of losing someone, of being lost to someone.
Fear is universal. Everyone, no matter how big or how strong, has something that they are afraid of. It doesn't matter if the things we fear are exactly the same as someone else. It only matters that we recognize that we are not so different from those who we look at as if we are. The elderly woman in front of you in line at the bank, the teenager you walked past on the street today, the man who asked you for your spare change as you left the store, they all have hopes, all have dreams, and yes, all have fears just like you. Your parent, your pastor, your priest, the guy who mows your lawn or the guy who you watch on the evening news, may seem vastly different to you. They don't travel in the same circles or like the same things. But one thing I can tell you is this- at the heart of them, they are all afraid of something- maybe the same things that you are afraid of.
When we start to break down all of the things that make us different, all of the ways in which we divide ourselves from those around us, we are making progress. Progress that can help us search for the things that we do share- the common threads. Those threads are practically universal. Pull on one of those threads and watch as our differences, our prejudices, our contempt, and our judgments unravel. Do this, and we can begin to move closer to a place where we are all... one, unified.
**Join the conversation. This week we are talking to people about their fears. Visit our Facebook page and share your thoughts with us.**
