Have you ever noticed how OBVIOUS the answer is in movies? Have you ever said “NOOO! Don’t do it!” or waved your arms “STOP!”.
Even if this is true for you, we often miss the obvious in real life. Why don’t we see the win-win solution? My guess is, fear messes with our observations, and as a result, our decisions and actions.
For example, How to Train your Dragon. Great movie for people who want to find an innovative solution! In it, all the big tough Vikings are fighting the Dragons. They created an entire way of thinking based on the ‘fact’ that they must kill the dragons if they want to survive. So, all their continuous improvement ideas are centered around killing the dragons. No one took the time to look up and look around. It took someone who didn’t fit their mold of a normal Viking to see there may be an easy solution. Instead of assuming they knew the dragons, he got curious and learned more about them. By doing so, he realized, if they built relationships with the dragons, they could work together to make their world much, much better. All-win, and with the added bonus of flying!
The point is, if we are always working to reduce the feeling of fear, we will miss the all-win solutions. It could be staring us right in the face, jumping up and down, doing back flips, and we’ll still miss it. After all, we aren’t looking for a solution, but instead, working to reduce the feeling of fear.
For example, for years humans tried to find better ways to ward off the ‘evil spirits’ that were making us sick. It took courage for someone to say, hold on, maybe there is something else that is making us sick that has nothing to do with living a Godly life. Thank goodness! Otherwise would be blaming Covid-19 on our evil selves, instead of working to find a vaccine.
This holiday season, let’s be brutally honest with ourselves and figure out who, what, and why we fear. Then take a deep breath, count to 3, and consistently face those fears! When we do, we will have the courage to have real conversations, and look for solutions that make our world a better place.
Eleanor Roosevelt – You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.