Ken,

There is something both comforting and unnerving about being raised completely without fear.

I don't know if Jesus wanted us to not know fear at some point. (as in "fear God" or fear for your soul if you have not taken the initial step toward salvation, fear serving the wrong "master" in life, etc.).  I guess his goal was to have us face our fears, strip life of all of its extraneous baggage and depend on the power of God to carry us to the "other side of the river".  

Fear is a primal and powerful motivator. Being afraid and yet facing fear and choosing to act is one of the primary components of being a hero in my book. It at  least makes for a great Jimmy Stewart movie. Faith (in a higher power or in ones abilities gained from experiencing scary situations and surviving) seems to be a powerful antidote to fear. I have been afraid many times in my work, especially when big bucks were on the line and I was in unchartered territory, but knowing that the worst that can happen is that you will live to fight another day can be comforting. Ultimately you have to screw up the courage to pull the trigger and say F**k it! Get r'  Done!      

Fear of failure, fear of disappointing superiors/elders, fear of man eating creatures and dangerous situations all seem to be a part of a healthy emotional existence.

Daredevil was "the man without fear" but he was blind, a lawyer, a gymnastic/martial arts master, had a sort of bat like radar and a bitchin' red costume with horns so I am sure that played into his character development.   

I like what Winston Churchill said about bad situations, "If you find yourself going through hell, keep on going." or something like that. Sometime we all want to just lay down and die but somehow we pick ourselves off the ground and keep on keepin' on.

I had the same type of issue with a big milwaulkee drill a few years back. I was drilling a huge hole in a 3"x18" heart pine joist where it connected to the sill. The drill grabbed hard and pinned my arm to the wall. I had to get my helper to get up on the ladder and reverse the drill so that I could extricate myself. Needless to say I almost crapped my pants from fear when that drill popped around with a quickness.   

Keep the faith,

Brian   




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