About Fear II (the fun part)
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There's a saying that I heard from my mother-in-law: "Do something
everyday that scares you". Idk where it comes from and I can't be
bothered to check, but I believe there is something to it.
We are often paralyzed by paper tiger, by shadows that we take to be
ghosts, when all the while there is so much more that we could do, so
many places that we could be, so much more that we could be but we
give up even before starting just because we are scared.
Now, this is not saying that we should just throw all cares out the window,
be reckless, quit our job, buy that lambo or whatever... not thinking
is just being intentionally stupid, and that is not what I'm talking about.
Let me put an example. A few days ago I read a phlog about this guy (jns) and
a project in which he put a old-time public phone in his living room
and wired it up to SDF's VoIP and a RPi. Well, without thinking it twice
I picked up my phone and called to the phone number he put on the phlog.
As soon as it started ringing I got SO NERVOUS! You see, I'm shy, a classic
introvert type that sees as an advantage that I don't know if anybody ever
sees what I write (and probably takes some solace in believe that is not seen!)
but nonetheless, it was something that crossed my mind, I felt the fear of
talking to a complete stranger with no topic or reason to talk, and how
would that make me feel, and the moment I felt that fear and rationally assessed
that the worst case scenario was just an awkward conversation I decided to
make the call, and it was great!
No, we didn't suddenly realized that we were brothers separated at birth
and talked for hours... it was (at least for me) quite awkward, but I loved
it! Later I said hi on sdf and now I have a new acquaintance that I didn't
had before!
Another example, I just got my Amateur Radio Operator License, and after
fighting my radio I finally configured it to hit a local repeater. The mix
of fear and excitement when I pressed the PTT (Push-To-Talk) button for the
first time is kind of hard to explain! "Hello, this is KN6LIA hmmm... new ham
here checking if my radio works... ehhh... anybody copy?"
(I'm starting to see a pattern... I'm afraid of strangers!)
Anyways, what are you afraid of? Particularly those silly things that we all
have. What if you just tried? What if there's actually nothing to fear?
What if you actually enjoy it, or if not, it does get you somewhere that
you wanted to be but aren't because you haven't done anything about it?
To me those experiences, as far as I can tell, are more than cheap thrills,
I feel more confident now in approaching strangers (come on, the recruiter
is a stranger, the fellow cyclist is a stranger, in fact, the majority of
the world is made out of strangers!)
So anyways, asses withing you what scares you (excitement and fear are very
closely related, don't ask me why...) and face it, you might be surprised!
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As always I'd love to hear from you guys (now that I'm a little less afraid...)
send me a note in sdf or shoot me an email benj [at] sdf DOT org
Keep being awesome and bring some sweetness to the world (like sugarcane!)
