As a kid, you probably climbed walls and trees, wondered not what would happen if you fell. Till someone told you. Fear.
You probably jumped over water poodles measuring some feet. But would refuse to do it if it was the same distance over a valley. Fear.
Cricket - two tailenders would gloriously strike the ball in a given up chase, bring the team close to victory and then give up striking in favor of pottering, losing it all in the end. Fear.
Standing up a height, feet tied up in a bungee rope, looking down at a deep pool - the worst that could happen is a deep dive. And yet having looked down, those feet refuse to move. Fear.
Standing in a pub, eying that sweet girl - who probably gave you a half smile, hesitating, focusing on that drink instead and eventually leaving as you came - alone. Fear
In most cases, that invisible leash of fear holds us back, preventing us from doing what we most want to do - even though the adverse impact of it all is higher imagined than real. The fear of losing it all - like that bit in Batman Begins, plays itself up when the Scarecrow fires his chemicals - making itself bigger and bigger leaving you to take the chicken route.
Most often, the material loss in case of failure is almost negligible, it is the perceived loss of your own image, a social face if i may say so - that counts heavy in that final moments, when you look down the bungee platform, gulp down, shake that head mildly and walk away - forgetting the greatest truth of them all, the failure to risk failure in following what you really wanted to do - is the failure of the biggest kind.
Three friends of mine. Very different people. Yet they abandoned their fear and set sail.
One quit his job of 5 years and will spend his savings literally exploring the world with an itinerary so fancy that Phileas Fogg would be jealous. The risk? In real terms none. He comes back a year later and will find himself a job that will pay him in similar payscales as now. The payoff? Experiences to last a lifetime and who knows a living to be made by narrating those experiences.
The other two - a couple. Wanted to travel for a time as short as 3 months. The guy's company refused him a sabbatical, the girl's has no problem. So our hero quit - went off for 3 months and hunted for a job when back. The risk? None in real terms. The Payoff - See above
With no risk whatsoever in real terms - these are still sterling examples of people who went beyond. Because our own internal inhibitions hold us back, we see what these guys did as risks - but in reality they are just rational ways to live the one life we have.
And hence when i hear stories - that throw all perceived caution to the wind, it is inspiring - leading me to the hope that someday i will muster the courage myself to snap that invisible leash and go out exploring, jumping, experimenting - doing whatever i see fit - because i want to do it and not because it must be done.
As Calvin said in his last appearance
You probably jumped over water poodles measuring some feet. But would refuse to do it if it was the same distance over a valley. Fear.
Cricket - two tailenders would gloriously strike the ball in a given up chase, bring the team close to victory and then give up striking in favor of pottering, losing it all in the end. Fear.
Standing up a height, feet tied up in a bungee rope, looking down at a deep pool - the worst that could happen is a deep dive. And yet having looked down, those feet refuse to move. Fear.
Standing in a pub, eying that sweet girl - who probably gave you a half smile, hesitating, focusing on that drink instead and eventually leaving as you came - alone. Fear
In most cases, that invisible leash of fear holds us back, preventing us from doing what we most want to do - even though the adverse impact of it all is higher imagined than real. The fear of losing it all - like that bit in Batman Begins, plays itself up when the Scarecrow fires his chemicals - making itself bigger and bigger leaving you to take the chicken route.
Most often, the material loss in case of failure is almost negligible, it is the perceived loss of your own image, a social face if i may say so - that counts heavy in that final moments, when you look down the bungee platform, gulp down, shake that head mildly and walk away - forgetting the greatest truth of them all, the failure to risk failure in following what you really wanted to do - is the failure of the biggest kind.
Three friends of mine. Very different people. Yet they abandoned their fear and set sail.
One quit his job of 5 years and will spend his savings literally exploring the world with an itinerary so fancy that Phileas Fogg would be jealous. The risk? In real terms none. He comes back a year later and will find himself a job that will pay him in similar payscales as now. The payoff? Experiences to last a lifetime and who knows a living to be made by narrating those experiences.
The other two - a couple. Wanted to travel for a time as short as 3 months. The guy's company refused him a sabbatical, the girl's has no problem. So our hero quit - went off for 3 months and hunted for a job when back. The risk? None in real terms. The Payoff - See above
With no risk whatsoever in real terms - these are still sterling examples of people who went beyond. Because our own internal inhibitions hold us back, we see what these guys did as risks - but in reality they are just rational ways to live the one life we have.
And hence when i hear stories - that throw all perceived caution to the wind, it is inspiring - leading me to the hope that someday i will muster the courage myself to snap that invisible leash and go out exploring, jumping, experimenting - doing whatever i see fit - because i want to do it and not because it must be done.
As Calvin said in his last appearance
