The Fear

On Sunday I saw a woman with really (really) long red toe nails. They were so long that they seemed to be hanging over the edge of her toes as if to aggressively challenge the world. I was a little bit afraid of them. So just to be safe, I kept them always within my peripheral, if not direct, vision as someone wise once said to "keep your friends close and your enemies closer". While these nails weren't overtly an enemy - they somehow felt ominous and so I thought it best to keep my eyes on them. You never know. They really did seem to have a life of their own.

I spent the good portion of the following 23 minutes staring at those nails thinking about my fears: great white sharks, spiders (except daddy long legs, they just creep me out), that leaving my toaster plugged in when I leave on a vacation will burn my house down. My mind then drifted to something another wise person once said, that "fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time".

It is at that junction of faith and fear where I think life's greatest decisions are made. Figuring out how to navigate the intersection and let faith drive the direction, and not fear, then becomes the operational challenge as no decision made in fear is ever a good one.

But how to do this?

There is this great scene in one of the Indiana Jones' movies - where Indy is standing on the edge of a cliff and has to take a "leap of faith":


He makes a decision, closes his eyes, and steps off the ledge. Just like that. So it might be that the essence of overcoming fears and living a faith-filled life is wearing a fedora and carrying a whip. Or maybe it's having vision, gumption and the confidence to act enough love (thanks, Mom) to act?

Either way, scary red nails, bring it on.