Fear is a Reason to Try Harder

When I was six years old I found out I have j-knees, which means my knee caps don’t have much support and they move and give out. Because of this I couldn’t really do sports and some doctors just told me to avoid physical activities. I was disappointed because I couldn’t participate in a good chunk of the things my friends would do. I often felt left out, always having to sit on the sidelines. I tried physical therapy and it wasn’t really helping, so I thought it was hopeless and I would never be able to do sports. Then this past year my mom came to me and asked if I wanted to join the swim team. I said sure, but I had my doubts. I was fearful of how terrible I would be and thought of how I would embarrass myself; plus, I had no friends on the team and felt I would be all alone. When the season first started and we went to our first practice, I realized that there were a few girls in my grade on the team and I felt a little better. As the season went on, I realized that I actually wasn’t that bad at swim, I became pretty good at freestyle and backstroke and was already catching up to the more experienced swimmers. Now, I realize God brought this opportunity to me for a reason because He knew that I wasn’t hopeless and there was something out there for me. God knew that this would be good for me to step out of my comfort zone and try something new even if I might not have friends doing it and I might not be the best at it. Now I have been on the swim team for two years and I even joined swim club. I have made many friends on the team, and a couple of them are even some of my closest friends.

After I joined the swim team, I realized that sometimes you have to do things that make you feel scared or nervous. These feelings are just the fear talking, and if there is one thing I have learned it is that fear is just a reason to try harder. Courage is not the lack of fear. Courage is acting in spite of fear. It's doing what you think is right even if it means standing away from the crowd. What will you accomplish if you never face your fears and just sit in your comfort zone your whole life? How will you succeed? Sometimes you have to do things you are afraid of to grow and develop. So, if everyone took just one small step out of their comfort zone and expanded even just a little, our world would be braver, stronger, and wiser. Even if you try the smallest thing you just opened up a whole new world for yourself.

Now I’m going to live with courage because without courage as a value you can’t practice any other values. To be kind you have to have the courage to step away from the crowd and help. To be honest you have to have the courage to tell the truth. You have to have the courage to do the things that build up other values. So, like William Faukner said to do, I’m going to swim for new horizons even if it means losing sight of shore, because even a lost boat has stars to guide it and lighthouses to keep it safe from dangerous shallows. Overall, I want to be the one who sees the potential growth in a moment and seizes the opportunity. I want to live a life where I always assess my fears and use them to push myself to work harder. That’s why I choose courage!

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” — William Faulkner