99 Problems but the Snake Isn't One of Them

It's like God created this man for a busy day and he forgot to put fear in his hand.

We tend to view fear as a powerful tool.  Employers use it to keep their employees in line.  Governments, same - either by encouraging their people to be afraid of them or by blowing up external fears as a justification of "why they need us."  Terrorism, that nebulous activity against which nations have attempted to go to war with, thrives on fear.

In practise, though, fear is not a tool - tools are devices used to facilitate productivity.  Fear is a weapon that serves to end activity, be it speaking truth to power or living a life contrary to traditional dictates.  Fear is a glass ceiling that instinctively restrains us from taking risks, either positive or negative.  It's a firewall that keeps out the threat of change - or a flaming sword that banishes change from within.

So what happens when fear is not an issue? 

When you stop waiting for the worst to happen; when you stop waiting for someone to remove the thing that makes you anxious before acting - doors open.  The opposite of fear is wonder.

If fear is about closing doors, wonder is about opening them.  It's funny, that - how the end of one thing leads to the beginning of something else. 
 

Clearly, you can't walk through every door - but having the option matters.

 

When you pull back the veil of fear, the world seems a lot clearer.

Best of all - it's a meme, too.