There used to a saying (on bumper stickers, sweat shirts, etc.): “No Fear.” Somehow many of us became convinced that fear — a natural response that is essential for self-preservation — is a sign of moral weakness worthy of scorn and derision. It seems a bit adolescent, but there you go.
Courage is not the absence of fear. In fact, it makes no sense to talk about courage unless fear is also present. Fear is to courage as hydrogen is to water.
What if there was no shame in fear? What if fear was accepted as a natural response to the unexpected or the unknown? What if we could welcome fear as a friend seeking our welfare, rather than denying or suppressing it as an unwelcome master?
If you’re going to change something (engage, take a risk, make things better) the question is not whether you experience fear. The question is what you will do with it.