A Fearless Mind is a Brave Soul
It is human nature to seek comfort in life for safety and security. Our desires for comfort reflect our lifestyle choices, relationships, and occupations. These three things can continually expand to identify our limitations. How do we push beyond comfort to increase our ceiling when we discover our limitations? I interpret the ceiling as a threshold where individuals can expand their growth beyond their limitations. It is more or less a plateau, and when we plateau in any capacity, we become complacent, and our comfort levels are maintained in this mindset. So, our ceiling is what we should constantly be developing because our growth should always be seen as exponential.
How do we push beyond comfort to increase our ceiling when we discover our limitations? Of the many mantras I have for myself in life, the one that has helped me push myself through is “find comfort in being uncomfortable.” Growing up, I was an introvert. I had a lot of success as an athlete when I was younger, bringing more attention than I wanted. To be a prospect for the next level, I needed to find a way to create an extroverted persona. Getting a camera and an audio recorder pushed into your face is an intense reality for someone who is fifteen and an introvert. I botched this first post-game interview. I botched most conversations with my friends’ parents or teammates' parents because I was unsure how to interact with adults. Anxiety inevitably got the best of me, and I was very down on myself for not being able to communicate with anyone effectively. I came to terms with my problem and began developing a plan to fix it. The solution was to “find comfort in being uncomfortable.” It allowed me to embrace failure, learn from my mistakes, and manage my fears. I began forcing myself into conversations with people I usually would not. It helped me develop my voice, articulate my thoughts, and speak volubly. I was still an introvert at my core, but I had developed a strength by being uncomfortable in the moment. To this very day, I utilize this extroverted skill when working behind a restaurant bar, and being uncomfortable has given my resilience an edge and strengthened my spirit.
“Find comfort in being uncomfortable” has also helped me to manage my fears. Ever since I was sixteen, I have been terrified of heights. I was free-soloing in a state park near where I grew up when my feet slipped from under me as I was holding onto part of the rockface. There was about fifty feet of free-fall under me when my adrenaline kicked in, and I talked my way up to the top. (This is not an extreme height for those who free solo.) From that moment on, I was terrified of heights, maybe even death. In college, I started to branch out more to face these fears, entertaining ridge hikes and sitting on the edge of cliffs. It still intimidates me, but I find ways to tolerate my fear. The feeling I get even a hundred feet in elevation is like vertigo, and it feels like my legs are about to buckle, but I push through. Since 2017, I have attempted to face my fear of heights by doing something more aggressive every year. It started with ridge hiking and has translated into sky-diving, via-ferrata, rock climbing, bungee jumping, cliff jumping, and hiking into the Grand Canyon. Pushing the boundaries of our comfort in any capacity is crucial, and I cannot emphasize this enough.
What does this have to do with “a fearless mind is a brave soul”? Let us reanalyze the idea of limitations and the concept of the ceiling. Negative affirmations will always reduce our ceiling, which generates our limitations. To have a fearless mind, the individual needs to give themself positive affirmations. Telling themself they can do something regardless of the outcome is having a fearless mind. The more you continue to act on the things you identify as your weaknesses or fears, the more you develop your being and soul. Hence, “a fearless mind is a brave soul.” Living with these mantras has allowed me to overcome challenges without seeing them as challenges. It has allowed me to embrace the unknown, given me a courageous temperament, and expanded my curiosity in life.
Find comfort in being uncomfortable, for a fearless mind is a brave soul.
