Fearing to Fly

 Michael Jordan once said; "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Fair play to the man, he is a legend in his field and deserves all the credit for his glittering career. It's easier however to be so philosophical after you've handcrafted your own legacy. For Joe Bloggs the fear of failing is a palpable presence that clips our metaphorical wings quite neatly.
 I have passed on countless potentially rewarding opportunities, both academic and personal, through fear. Personally there is nothing more humiliating than a public display of inadequacy. In my mind whenever I make a simple slip up, one that the gross percentage of the population has endured themselves, I am instantly appalled at myself. How could I ever live down such complete humiliation? I'm an embarrassment to myself and my family name will be forever tarnished. In reality it is never that severe, in fact any witness to said catastrophe probably won't remember it past their next meal. Even if they do possess an elephant's recollective abilities it's normally easy to laugh off the light hearted ridicule. This fear of failure does have more serious consequences however.
 So deep rooted is my need to look competent and composed at all times I find it incredibly difficult to take risks. The thought of putting myself out there and being shot down is too horrendous to consider. Even writing this blog was a torment. What if the virtual world rejected me once my inner most thoughts were put on display? My fear of rejection is so bad that I had to ensure, via the drunken phone call medium, that my girlfriend would say yes to me before I dared to ask her out. Not the most romantic courting process but god forbid that I took that leap and found myself plunging to my death.
 I'm constantly waging an inner war whether to attempt new things. On the one hand I could succeed and go on to have an enjoyable experience. On the other hand it could end up in complete and total devastation or yours truly. The embarrassment could be so bad that the ground would literally open up and swallow me whole.
 I'm sure there are plenty of people who feel the same way. People who have missed out on the best life has to offer because that damnable emotion called fear has held them back. I know it has me.
 My only advice to said people is to try and power through. Keep your targets in sight and dive into life, hell to the consequences. So what if you fail? It's not going to be the end of the world. After all, life is too short. I only hope that I can follow my own advice.