Action Beats Fear

By Ryan Mimna

The secret to handling fear is taking action. In the simplicity of this truth lies duplicity. Fear is paralyzing, as the brain knows not the difference between a paper tiger and a real tiger. Both are equal threats in our mind, paralyzing to the senses and overcome by courage.

Oh, but why do you sing of fear? What do you know of fear? There are many kinds of fear, don’t you know? These are valid questions, as these words flow forth from a coward who learned courage from lions. A coward came face to face with his fear when he took a one-way trip in an airplane. A coward with a gun to his head learned that courage can be found in desperation. Fear is paralyzing, and my dreams were out the plane door. Alone, I would have been paralyzed, if not for the hearts of lions that I counted as friends. Fear is paralyzing, so I didn’t think, not a thought. I took action. I jumped in defiance of my nature into the wild blue yonder.

But what do I know of fear? I know it lurks in all of our hearts, and it’s why we hold each other close. For fear can even manifest out of love, as can the courage it takes to reach out to each other. For who hasn’t been paralyzed by matters of the heart, and it can be that same love that inspires courage.

If fear is paralyzing, then courage is action; and just as fear manifests itself in many different ways, so does courage. Sometimes a coward gets his courage from a lion, and sometimes a lion finds his courage from a coward. For fear is a manifestation of our minds. But take it from a coward who learned courage, the heart of a lion beats in all of us. The secret to fear is to be defiant of it.

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As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.