I went and spent a whole weekend with horses a few weeks ago. I had a really great time.
I did a lot of things with horses. One of them had me falling from one. He almost stepped on me (because there was a print of his hoof on my stomach) but he was kind and alert enough to not let it happen. It didn't hurt (except where my chin bump into his hoof), I suppose the amount of falling and bumping into hard things in my life has made me immuned to that sort of thing. But I guess it's also because I thought of falling and I wasn't really afraid of the idea. So when it really happens, I wasn't really... shaken or anything (not that I expect that to happen).
If I were scared to fall from the horse, to get wet from the rain, to be dirty from all the mud--I wouldn't be able to learn nor do things with these horses. If I were scared of risk of me doing things, I wouldn't be able to do anything.
But I guess that's what has been holding people back from doing things. Fear. Mostly fear of getting hurt.
I suppose it's fair: most people don't like to feel pain. So when people don't want to pet puppies because they're afraid of being bitten, or play rugby because they're afraid of being squashed, or fall in love because they're afraid of heartbreaks, or doing bad deeds because they're afraid of getting thrown into a pit of everlasting fire... it makes sense, because people don't like pain.
I don't think fear is bad though. They're great. Fear is what keeping people alive. It makes sure we don't get into things that can be the death of us. So I don't think people should stop being afraid. I think people should stop letting fears prevent them from doing things all the time.
It's cool for people to be afraid of getting hurt, but I think people should risk it if it has certain advantages that worth getting hurt for. Like, I'd risk myself of getting clawed in the face, because I want to bond with my cat and getting clawed in the face is worth my cat knowing that I never meant him any harm. But I totally won't risk me got bitten by a venomous snake since I don't particularly get anything from it. It's also cool for people to be afraid of not doing things the right way, but I also think they should do it if they can be a better person by doing so. I guess it comes to rational assessment--knowing which fear to listen to, and which one to put aside. But fear and rationality aren't really a match from heaven, so a lot of people find it hard to think straight when it comes to things they're afraid of. That doesn't mean they can't try, though. Knowing why you're afraid of one and not another, knowing why you choose to indulge in one or face the other--it's a power on it's own.
What I'm trying to say is that it's ok to be afraid, and it's ok not doing things because you're afraid, but to be mindful that there are things that you're missing from not doing things because of fear. And to be mindful that facing your fears doesn't always make you the wisest person in the room.
Bravery is not mutually exclusive with stupidity.
