Fear is one of the great common denominators. Everyone meets it - the successful and the struggling alike - and how we handle it has a great deal to do with the size of the life we end up living.
The trick is not to banish fear, which is neither possible nor even desirable; a little of it keeps us safe. The trick is perspective. Most of what we dread never happens, and much of what does turns out smaller than the shadow it cast beforehand. Naming a fear plainly - writing down exactly what you're afraid of - has a way of cutting it back to its true dimensions.
From there it's a matter of acting anyway, in small steps if need be. Courage was never the absence of fear; it's the decision that something else matters more. Put your fears in perspective, and you clear the road to a fuller life - which is, in the end, the whole point.
Originally published in View AZ Highlife Magazine, Oct / Nov 2007.