Our deepest fears.

            Sometimes when I think of the giants who walked this earth, I wonder what was going through their minds. I think of Marie Curie and I wonder if she always knew she was an exceptional woman. Wasn’t there any source of doubt as she entered the "man's" field? I think of Michael Faraday and I wonder how despite being a smith’s son he appeared in our textbooks. Wasn’t he at some point afraid that he was too inadequate to speak to the most intelligent people of the time? I wonder, but then I remember they didn’t live in isolated bubbles. They were humans, who lived in societies of ordinary people, Of course they had fears.

                       

Isaac Newton; he is the guy without whom Physics textbooks are incomplete. He is the man who would write about gravitation, head the Royal Mint, and sit in the parliament simultaneously. Those are just details of his achievements, what I haven’t told you is that he once asked the Parliament windows be closed so that no one would hear his stutter. The incredible Sir Isaac Newton was afraid? That’s an unlikely scenario, but he was human of course he had this pre-installed software.

            When Miss Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, I’m assuming a trail of thoughts went through her mind. The judicial consequences of her actions on not only herself but also her family, the financial consequences and everything everyone else feared of. But she did it anyway, she spoke her mind despite the fear she humanly had.

            Biologically, Fear is the brain’s reaction to a stimulus where chemicals are released that raise the heart rate. This definition is incomplete without mentioning the fact that it has the effect of causing pulling away/ hiding. Fear, it is the most inhibiting and negative feeling you will ever have. It’s the reason why people take their dreams to the grave. It is the source of regrets and the sad part is it is a requirement for every human being. That being said, It is totally fine to have fear.

            I’m a good fan of the phrase “Everything is possible” and how naive that sounds because in the real world some (if not many) things are not possible. But I still believe, well, because if you look around, the world is modeled by people who said “Screw fear, I’m going to do it anyway” and miracles happened. So I guess I’m right to believe that everything you are willing to commit is possible.

            “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” That’s a popular quote by Nelson Mandela and summarizes 1000 words. Most people say you shouldn’t fear; it doesn’t sound natural, I think what they mean to say is; be afraid but do it anyway.