For most of my life I have worried too much. For most of my life I have not taken many chances or broke the mold or jumped off into the deep end. The main reason...Fear! Fear of failing, fear of being made fun of, fear of not being liked, fear of making a mistake......just plain fear. For all of these reasons fear has held me back.
What I have recently realized is that fear can be a motivator. In 16 months I will have reached my 50th birthday. With that, I now have a fear that is making me take chances. That fear is that I won't accomplish my dreams. The song lyric "When you only got a 100 years to live" (Five For Fighting) is something that I think of often. Fear of not accomplishing all that I am capable of is my biggest motivator. I don't want to look back and say I should have or could have. I'm going to look back and say I did it regardless of the outcome because it is what I love. And with hard work and perseverance and a little bit of luck I will look back and be proud of what I brought to the world.
So this is where I "Get busy living or get busy dying." (Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption)