The Mind-Killer

Fear is the mind-killer.
- Frank Herbert, Dune

Lately, this line has stuck with me like a mantra.

Fear drives so much of what we do.

Fear of change

Fear of discomfort

Fear of pain

Fear of lack, of want

Fear of the unknown

Fear of not being good enough

Fear of not being capable

Fear of failure

People are running around afraid

Letting that fear drive their decisions

Allowing that fear to dictate their lives

Giving that fear the authority and power to keep them in place or move them away

This fear is manipulated by marketing

Manipulated by so called news

sustained and driven by employers

Work spaces

Peer groups

Belief systems

It collects

It gathers and festers in the mind and heart

crippling

Immobilizing

Keeping you in the same seemingly safe small space

Watching your dreams and desires - worse -  your potential -  die, as someone from the outside looking in

Wishing

wanting

“If only…”

“One day…”

Fuck that shit
 
Self confidence destroys fear.

When you know who you are,
or at least who you want to be,
and you’re dedicated, focused, and driven on that path
the path of becoming something other
something better
something wonderfully beyond the scope of most people’s myopic vision
then you are able to meet that fear with purpose

You are able to rein it in and bring it to heel and use it as inspiration

inspiration that you know you are on the right path

Because you are moving away from comfort and safety - into unknown and new territory

This is where, if you stay true, you will learn to grow and thrive
This is where mental and spiritual toughness is built
This is where the mind and the will become harder than the circumstances you meet

It is lonely
It is painful
It is terrible in its difficulty
And it is sacrificial in its consistent and continual execution

But this is where you build your world
your life
your body
your mind
according to your will
and in line with your values

This is freedom
And it is beautiful



“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

- Frank Herbert, Dune

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