What Are We Afraid Of?

Have you ever heard people saying “I’m not afraid of anything!!”, well, I’m sure most of those people are lying. I think everyone is afraid of something in their life. Some are afraid of heights, some with spiders, some with darkness and many more. If you check the list of phobias on the internet you will be surprised to see the number of results on that. Some people are even scared of trees and falling asleep. I’m sure a lot of people might disagree with the latter one. So the point is people can get scared of almost anything. That was unexpected right?

If you ask me about being afraid, there are two types of things that we all are afraid of. One, the actual things like a spider, height, darkness, etc. the other, is us. Confused?? how can we be afraid of ourselves?? Trust me, folks we all are. Knowingly or unknowingly, we all are scared of ourselves, our actions, our reactions, our decisions and most importantly our instincts. More confused now?? Let me tell you a story.

There was a man, his name was Sindbad. He was the greatest sailor of his time. He crossed seven seas and discovered many great lands during his voyage. He was the bravest man people had ever seen. He wasn’t afraid of the deepest oceans nor the strongest waves. Once during his voyage, he met a very humble, enthusiastic young man who idolized Sindbad as his hero. The young man praised Sindbad for his bravery and said he wants to be as fearless as him. Sindbad hearing this looks at him, smiles and says “No one is fearless, everyone is afraid of something”.

The young man was shocked after hearing these words from the greatest sailor ever, “What are you afraid off??” he asked

“It’s something that has always traveled with me, no one else can see it, except me”

“What is it Sindbad? tell me”, asked the young man with a curious face

Sindbad turns away from the young man and says, “Me”

The young man, now more confused than ever turns towards Sindbad and asks, “I don’t understand”

Sindbad looks at him, smiles and puts his hand around the young man’s shoulders and says, “I grew up in a small village. My father was a fisherman. As a kid, I was as normal as any other kid. I was afraid of everything, even sailing. As I grew up I started to help out my father in fishing. But it wasn’t too late when I realized that I wasn’t any good at it. My parents kept a lot of hopes on me. I didn’t want to disappoint them, so I tried hard. But I always ended up disappointing them. Disappointing them became a hobby for me. When I became a man, I was a fisherman but not as good as my parents thought. I had so many friends, I let them all down. At that time I met the love of my life, but I made some decisions that hurt her and I lost her. And one time I listened to my instincts and it almost cost my friend his life. I wasn’t wrong all the time you know, but whenever I was wrong, it cost me too much. Whenever I meet new people I feel scared, what if I hurt them or disappoint them. So I started to outcast myself. I turned to oceans because the fear of these waves didn’t even stand a chance against the fear of me letting others down. Death never scared me in my journey, instead, I sailed my whole life looking for it. And if ever one day, I find my death right in front of me, I will not run from it, instead, I will welcome it as a friend.”

After these words, Sindbad looked at the young man, smiled and tapped on his back and left for yet another sail.

So, coming back to our discussion, what did you understand from the story?? Was Sindbad right?? Folks, sometimes the deadliest fear in the universe might seem small when we are afraid of ourselves. This fear can take us distances or can make our life miserable. So, can we control this fear? It’s entirely up to us. We just have to figure out how to deal with this and move forward for yet another sail just like Sindbad. But unlike outcasting ourselves like him, we can always find people who support us, love us and help us achieve our potential. We just have to stick onto them and believe that at the end of the day, everything will be alright.