Morning Motivation: If You Weren't Afraid

In Native Wisdom for White Minds, a Maori writer expresses confusion about people from the West: "Why do they whisper; why are they so afraid?" Ayn Rand made a similar observation in Atlas Shrugged, noting that people no longer race around because they have a purpose, but because they are afraid. In contrast, she added that a truly vibrant person has a vitality that can only be compared to that of a healthy animal, because truly healthy human beings have become so rare. After all, warriors used to describe their singular desire to shake every drop of experience from life before dying a glorious death, not to be snuffed out quietly from fear! John A. Shedd wrote, “A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for.” There is a classic book about change called Who Moved My Cheese? It discusses the idea that situations change, but we don’t always change with them. We are often tempted to stay in a familiar situation that used to make us happy, rather than taking a risk and following our bliss to a new situation. The book challenges us with this question: "What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” Think about that for a moment. Imagine that right now, you aren’t afraid of failure. You are free from self-doubt. The opinions of other people are meaningless to you. Happiness is yours for the taking. What would you do today? How would you shake every drop of experience from this day? May all of your choices today be driven by intent instead of fear! To read other motivational and inspirational thoughts throughout the day, follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/DrDebBrown