Fear is an innate part of the human experience. But for the last year or so, I feel I’ve been carrying around more fear not just than I would like but than is even necessary. It’s fear big and small, from worrying about details on a work project to feeling jittery about my next tax payment to wondering whether I’ll ever manage to release another book. I might sleep poorly or wake up before my alarm, but usually, after my morning routine, I’m centered and ready for the day.
I recently read that “being born is probably the most difficult thing we ever have to do,” and that’s a thought I continue to find comforting. We came into this world through a portal of flesh and blood. We were in pain, literally screaming for air. And we were completely reliant on other people to help us through this challenge and bring us into existence. We don’t remember any of this, yet everything that follows might still be the parmesan on top of a pasta we’ve already made. I like this perspective.
It also got me thinking: Does that mean dying is only the second-hardest thing we’ll ever do? And is the act of dying easier than the act of being born? Like being born, the moment of death is short. It might be painful or painless, but, like everything else, it doesn’t last. The challenge, of course, is not knowing. When? Where? How? It’s ironic: We have no recollection of being born but capitalize on that gift every day without blinking twice. Yet we spend much time fretting about losing our gift even if that, too, is a completely nebulous event to us, unknown, far in the future. Perhaps that fear, too, is unnecessary.
If I’ve already done the hardest thing I’ll ever do, and the second-hardest thing is actually easy and not worth worrying about, well, then nothing else deserves my worry either, does it? Surely not my job. Or my legacy as a writer. Or some bill I have to pay. It’s all life—all here for me to make the most of it. And that’s worth doing with zest and joie de vivre.
Life is a party between two big tasks, one of which you’ve already completed. And the other? Sounds like you, like all of us, have got that handled too—so don’t let fear steal your funk.
