Fear

I run. Five to seven days a week. Two to five miles a run. It helps alleviate stress, the biggest reason I do it. It also helps to keep fear at bay.
Fear. Of what? Failing? Winning? Dying?

I can't remember the last time I failed at something that was debilitating. I've walked away from stuff by choice. But doing so didn't mean I failed. I just walked away and was better for it.

Yes, people close to me have died. And it was horrible. But fear of this happening didn't stop it from happening.

I've had winning moments where the win was overshadowed by the fear. Ironically, the win came easily when fear was pushed away.

But often fear, it seems, is actually unfounded and is more of a low-grade constant psychological aberration that plagues many, if not all of us most all of the time.

I see people living in fear everyday. The truly fearful overcompensate - they're either hyper-confident, hyper-funny, or bully their way through life, or they brag, or they mumble their words and give up trying anything that's unfamiliar or in the spotlight. Or they back-pedal without answering you straight. They drink a lot. Or they condescend. The fearful rarely raise their hands. They let people run all over them. And the truly fearful don't even know that they do any or all of these things.

Fear. There's an uncertainty - always. That's the way it is.

And since that's the way it is - stop. Don't hide behind out-of-character behaviors.

Be self-aware. Ask yourself: "What are you so afraid of?"

You never know. One day you might answer, "Nothing."