Fear

Fear.

It rears numerous heads and we give it a variety of names.

Public speaking. Loneliness. Neighbors. The Future. Love. Failing. Distance. Commitment. Death. Birth. Age. Mirrors. Opinions. FOX News.

You Name It and it'll manifest.

But it inhabits one body.

Strangely, yet unsurprisingly, that one body is the same one we inhabit,

You and I.

Our perceptions are shaped by a barrage of external pokes, sly winks, and messages/stories/tweets/advertisements/advice all wrapped up in

subtle inconspicuous mundane breaths.

It's easy to lose sight of ourselves and our strengths.

Fitness, clothing, or whatever magazines like to point out as our weaknesses. It's lucrative, create fears to turn a dime.

Well screw 'em.

But start with the inside first;

Purge the fear and its parasitic existence.

Find strength, find self-awareness, turn off the TV, put down the magazine,

put the laptop to sleep,

and feel the quiet.

Scary huh?

Don't be.

Listen.

That's you. Get acquainted. Shake hands. Belly rub.

Face the fear. Plunge head first.

Believe, Do.

And you'll struggle.

And when you surface, you'll find only you.