You must choose whether fear will be a weight around your neck or a platform beneath your feet.
Running away from that which scares us the most may take us to a certain point in our work, but facing it is what will take us to our greatest heights. We cannot have height in our creative work without depth. Depth comes from moving past our fears and insecurities. First, however, we must acknowledge them. We must admit them to ourselves, perhaps even to others, and then move forward with them, not away from them.
In the end, much of what we are looking for when we seek to express ourselves and accomplish something great is acceptance, support, and even love from others. This cannot be our primary motivation if we are going to do our best work, but it cannot be denied. If we do not acknowledge this, we will never truly be vulnerable enough to have true courage in what we do.
Hiding from our deepest needs for love, support, and acceptance also hides the deepest parts of ourselves from us. We cannot reach into the depths of our souls without first admitting and facing the fears and insecurities that we use to protect them. If we do not admit, at least to ourselves, that we need to be loved, accepted, and supported in order to truly feel fulfilled, we will be in constant state of hiding and we will never be able to express our true selves in our work.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
-Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
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