"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."

"Nothing in life is to be feared.  It is only to be understood."

-Marie Curie, physicist, chemist, a pioneer in the field of radioactivity, the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes.

The last few posts have either centered around my "Dad-isms" or research.  This one will have a combination of both.  One of the many lessons I appreciate my Dad teaching me was that fear comes from the unknown.  Many of his examples in teaching me were based on wildlife.  Extreme fear of predators like snakes, alligators and sharks stems from our lack of knowledge of how these creatures survive.  I'm not saying you should go swimming with them, I'm saying spend a little time learning about them.  You might just gain a respect for their place in this world, instead of fear.  As children (and adults), our imaginations will sometimes get the better of us.  Growing up in a house built in the early 1900's can be a little creepy (lots of stories on this).  Dad's "fear of the unknown lesson" came into play here as well.  When a "ghost" would scare me, he would help me discover what "real" thing was causing it.  I would wake up to a noise such as a monster banging on the windows and scream for Dad.  He would come to my rescue and show me that the wind had caught the shutters and doors just right to cause them to slam...continuously.  There were many stories with the same conclusion, something explainable was always causing the noise.  I discovered the knowledge helps you replace the fear with understanding.

How does this fit into the mission to remind myself daily to be present and to chronicle this odyssey of life?

If you have read my posts from last week you will know that it was one whammy after another.  In the moment of this struggle I had an epiphany.  I realized that I had choices in how I could react to any of the crisis in front of me.  This knowledge brought a calmness...empowerment...courage.  It was through the understanding that I was steering...I had options.  It changed my whole outlook immediately!  I was ready to overcome them, to persevere, to conquer, to embrace.   


Let's seek to understand the things that we fear in order to move past that barrier.