“Scared and sacred are spelled with the same letters. Awful proceeds from the same root word as awesome. Terrify and terrific. Every negative experience holds the seed of transformation.”
– Alan Cohen

I am my own worst enemy. It is my fear of failing and my fear of succeeding that traps me. I stall at every step. I put things off. I hide in books instead of doing the work I need to in order to have the life I want. What if I work very hard, and do all the steps, and fail? What if I don’t lose weight? Or don’t keep up with the house work? Or don’t sell any books? Or don’t save enough money to go on an exotic vacation?

What if I do? What if I do lose weight and my skin gets all saggy? Or if I do sell a bunch of books and my life changes? How will I know when to leave my job and become a full-time writer? What if I do manage to juggle everything, and I’m not any happier?

I’ve heard all the inspirational quotes about believing in yourself. They don’t really help when the panic sets in. I don’t really have any advice or wisdom to offer. If you have some, please share it. I want to be brave. I want to be strong, vibrant, and take risks. I want to face my fears and move past them. So for inspiration I offer this. The story of Hideaki Akaiwa.

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/akaiwa.html

EDIT- my link for Hideaki wasn’t working- I hope this fixed it, if not cut and paste this- http://www.badassoftheweek.com/akaiwa.html his story is worth it.