Most of us are born and grow up with inbuilt fears. My son has extreme fear for spiders regardless of size. A friend of mine is scared of a rat--dead or alive. One of the famous sports men of all time, Mr. Muhammed Ali, the three time World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion and 1960 Gold medalist almost missed the games because of fear for flying in airplanes. According to him:
“The one thing that I have always feared is airplanes. It is funny when I think about it now, because if I added up all the hours and days I've spent traveling around the world for the past forty-plus years in airplanes, it would be a big chunk of my life." (Muhammed Ali & Hana Ali (2005) The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey. Thorndike Windsor Paragon)
Can you imagine what could have happened to Muhammed Ali if he had succumbed to fear and missed the Olympic Games? Of course, he could not have become a gold medalist. He could not have vaulted into the professional ranks with much publicity and anything could have followed. Thus it is important in life that we confront the fears we have and pursue our dreams even in the face of fear. As an illustration from Muhammed Ali shows, we are only brave when we have something to lose and we still try. You can only be counted as brave when you summon yourself together to pursue your mission even in the presence of fear. Courage is not absence of fear, but accomplishing tasks in the face of fear!
