Be Fearless…But Not Reckless

I have a shirt that reads “Be Fearless”.  When I look at my life, there isn’t a lot of fear that I’ve let creep in.  Granted, I don’t like scary movies or to get scared at all, but when I think of a fearless nature, it isn’t so much about that as it is the worry that creeps in.  How synonymous is fear with worry?  I believe oftentimes these two go hand-in-hand.

Negativity vs. Positivity

I have a Pollyanna attitude.  When you choose positivity and delight, it’s hard to remain in fear and worry.  In some ways, it may be that I assume a utopian lifestyle.  Rainbows and sparkle and the assumption that people are good crops up.  One look at the news can confirm quite the opposite.

Maybe this is why I choose to life life in the positive.  There is so much hurt, anger and negativity in the world.  One little fragment of worry about what could happen can cloud your vision to the point of not realizing the good that is actually going on.

A perfect example of this is having a baby.  Wow, what an incredible experience.  From the very first instant you discover you are pregnant, you have a risk of losing that baby.  I’ve experienced friends losing babies in the first trimester and all throughout their pregnancy.  I have also experienced friends losing their 2-year-old, 17-year-old, and 27-year-old.  Family members have passed before their parents.  I have seen loss and grief that holds no limits on who it hits.

The minute a life is created, it is at risk.  The minute we share our heart with another, we risk being hurt.  Our greatest connection can lead to our hardest rejection.  So is it better to never connect in the first place?

I have chosen life.  Three times we’ve created life, and the cliché “To have a child is to carry your heart around outside of your body” is completely true.  I can’t fathom the pain of losing a child.  Life without my best friend and husband would crush me.  I can simply turn on the news for five minutes and see death and loss – it is everywhere.  But what does that negativity give me?  Where do I go from there?

Be Fearless, But Not Reckless

The reward of positive outcomes override the “what if” scenarios in my life.   Being fearless is not synonymous with being reckless.  Living without fear is intentional.  Horrible things happen every day and we can’t barrel through life on high-speed assuming we can fly past any potential hazards.  Every day, we drive our cars.  Nearly 1.3 million people die in auto-related crashes each year.  On average, that’s 3, 287 accidents a day.  (Road Crash Statistics)  And here I am, taking my family on an RV adventure across the States.

Am I too reckless? Have I put my family in danger by living this lifestyle?  We always wear seat belts.  The speed limit is usually higher than what we even travel when we are pulling in our RV.  We don’t drive while drinking.  We avoid high traffic and stay on easy roads as much as possible.  I fully recognize the risks of driving in a car.  I have chosen to let my desire for connection – to my family and to this country I live in – override my fear of an accident.

We are 100% responsible for our lives, and my children hear me say all the time,

“Every action has a consequence.”

You Reap What You Sow

What we sow, we will reap.  Think about that in all aspects.  It’s not just when we act irresponsibly we pay the consequences.  Yes, if we choose to drink and drive and speed down the roads, we will put ourselves at higher risk.  Yet deeper than that, I believe that when we sow seeds of fear – the scary what-ifs out there – we start to see that fear manifest.

I am not reckless – I take full responsibility for myself and caring for my children.  I weigh the consequences of each decision to determine whether it’s a good move.  However, I refuse to live a life in fear.  I will choose to remain fearless in my life.  Imagining my children or husband hurting or worse allows fear to creep in.  I choose to meditate on the good.  Just as weightlessness means nothing until you understand the gravity of weight, fearlessness comes with a full understanding of what fear is.  It is simply my intention to let that fear move right past me and not become the seed that I sow in my mind.

Don’t be reckless.  Live with positive intention.  Be fearless.