The Paradox of Fear

To many, "fear" is a dirty four letter word.  It is a stumbling block on the way to overcoming your obstacles, and in some cases, fear cripples.  Fear can also be your best friend if you handle it correctly.  Sylvester Stallone compares it to a fire in Rocky 5.  If you control it, it will make you hot.  If you let it control you, it will consume you and everything else around you.

Judgement, knowledge, and courage, three of fourteen traits that make a good leader.  These three traits have one thing in common: they are all rooted in fear, more specifically, fear of undesired consequence.  Fear and knowledge go hand in hand because in this case, knowledge is simply our awareness of the possibility of the undesired consequences which leads us to try and make the right decisions to avoid that consequence.  This is where sound judgement comes into play.  People call courage the antithesis of fear, and say that courage is the overcoming of fear, but that isn't exactly true.

Fear is overcome by fear itself.  Fear of our adversary is overcome by fear of defeat.  Fear of rejection is overcome by our fear of dying alone.  Fear of adversity is overcome by the fear of failure.  In the case of the Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae, the fear of death was overcome by a fear of dishonor and the fear of the death of their families and the destruction of their beloved city.

Franklin Roosevelt once said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.  I say fear is nothing to be afraid of.  Fear is something to be embraced.  It curbs you from recklessness, and can drive you to greatness.  There is nothing wrong with being afraid; there is, however, in allowing it to consume you.