Fear.
Are there people who are out there who are really brave? Brave, like all the time? Are there people who wake up every morning and don't dread leaving the bed? Are there people who are willing to let others succeed and learn and grow and thrive without worrying about how that will affect them?
They say there are people like this. Sometimes I have my doubts.
Fear is so destructive. It keeps us from trying things. It keeps us locked away in our rooms or locked away in our souls. It keeps us angry at other people. It keeps us from being able to listen and communicate with opposing sides so we can find common goals.
People react to fear in different ways. Most of the time, they retreat or back down. Sometimes they get violent. Often this violence becomes the basis for social norms, oppression of one group or the other, just to make one set of cowards feel better about themselves. Here's the truth of it, dearies, if you are hurting someone or limiting their freedom, you are a coward who fears them. And everyone knows it.
When some people encounter fear, especially when they encounter it over and over again, they just reach this place of saturation. They stop caring. When they hear the explosions going on around them, the stomping feet or the yelling or the long, angry sighs or muttering under breath, they just distance themselves from the situation and fantasize about how wonderful it will be when it's out of their lives.
There is one reaction that I find truly perplexing. There are some people who respond to fear by trying to make those around them just as scared. If they jump at a shadow, they pick at their loved ones until they jump at the shadow as well. Like the people who respond violently, they also create a culture of fear, only it's a far more limiting and passive/aggressive one.
There are a lot of things I fear. I'm irrationally scared of mice. I'm rationally scared of falling. I get paranoid about people being mad at me and let my mommy issues feed me whispers that no one loves me. As I've been in that place where I had no money and no way to pay the bills, I know the true pure, devastating terror that can bring.
But I don't fear being alone. I'm not scared of failure. Not any more. I've seen that face to face. I'm not scared of tornadoes or being shot at. I've had those things happen to me as well.
In fact, as I've said before, I don't fear death. I'm rather at peace by the concept. Living can be pretty tricksy, but death is easy.
Um . . . just as long as I'm not put in a pit full of mice or something.
Are there people who are out there who are really brave? Brave, like all the time? Are there people who wake up every morning and don't dread leaving the bed? Are there people who are willing to let others succeed and learn and grow and thrive without worrying about how that will affect them?
They say there are people like this. Sometimes I have my doubts.
Fear is so destructive. It keeps us from trying things. It keeps us locked away in our rooms or locked away in our souls. It keeps us angry at other people. It keeps us from being able to listen and communicate with opposing sides so we can find common goals.
People react to fear in different ways. Most of the time, they retreat or back down. Sometimes they get violent. Often this violence becomes the basis for social norms, oppression of one group or the other, just to make one set of cowards feel better about themselves. Here's the truth of it, dearies, if you are hurting someone or limiting their freedom, you are a coward who fears them. And everyone knows it.
When some people encounter fear, especially when they encounter it over and over again, they just reach this place of saturation. They stop caring. When they hear the explosions going on around them, the stomping feet or the yelling or the long, angry sighs or muttering under breath, they just distance themselves from the situation and fantasize about how wonderful it will be when it's out of their lives.
There is one reaction that I find truly perplexing. There are some people who respond to fear by trying to make those around them just as scared. If they jump at a shadow, they pick at their loved ones until they jump at the shadow as well. Like the people who respond violently, they also create a culture of fear, only it's a far more limiting and passive/aggressive one.
There are a lot of things I fear. I'm irrationally scared of mice. I'm rationally scared of falling. I get paranoid about people being mad at me and let my mommy issues feed me whispers that no one loves me. As I've been in that place where I had no money and no way to pay the bills, I know the true pure, devastating terror that can bring.
But I don't fear being alone. I'm not scared of failure. Not any more. I've seen that face to face. I'm not scared of tornadoes or being shot at. I've had those things happen to me as well.
In fact, as I've said before, I don't fear death. I'm rather at peace by the concept. Living can be pretty tricksy, but death is easy.
Um . . . just as long as I'm not put in a pit full of mice or something.
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