“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Dr. Seuss was correct (always, even if he might not have said this one, who knows, but he makes me smile).
Nothing can protect you from the storms of life, not enough the biggest umbrella (thanks Rhianna/Jay-Z, I’ll never get that song out of my head).
Put on those rain boots, galoshes, rubbers, overshoes, Wellies, whatever and go out and dance in the rain. Stand in it. Sit. Sleep.
Those storms are going to come, whether you fear them or not.
Change is going to come whether you fear it or not.
The lightning strikes of technology.
The rumbling thunder of racism. 
The pelting hail of misinformation.
The sleet of corruption.
The hurricanes of hate.
The tornadoes of greed.
The slapping winds of regression.
Face them. Fight them. Survive them. But you can’t avoid them.
Ignoring something never made it go away. Get stormy, let your inner Mary Poppins out, and get on with it.
Too often in my life I’ve missed out on good, hell, amazing things because I was afraid. My fear stopped me. Siting on my shoulder, claws curled into my trembling flesh, cackling in my ear about how I was going to fail, how it wasn’t going to turn out anyway (it rarely did), I was going to get hurt, I was going flounder, or goof…
I was going to ruin things, even ruin my life https://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/01/04/so-youve-ruined-your-lifenow-what/ I listened, avidly, to the voice of fear, so I missed out on smiling because it happened.
Much of what we fear stems from what we’ve learned, consciously or subconsciously.
Fear is actively used in: child-rearing, schooling, work, play, sports, politics, science, religion, movies, TV, books, business, and well, everything – then we’re shocked/surprised that fear rules us? Sometimes those fears are irrational and sometimes: “be afraid, be very afraid”.
So many fears…Fear of the dark comes from fear of the unknown (what’s out there I can’t see?).
Fear of strangers, immigrants, different races? Just people you don’t know yet.
Fear of snakes? Boo, hiss!
Fear of antiques? That gets old fast.
Fear of spiders? Sorry Charlotte, you know I love you (and your web), but you’re super creepy looking.
Fear of bananas? That’s bananas!
Fear of time? But it’s so wibbly wobbly timey wimey.
Fear of falling asleep? Probably good away after a good night’s sleep.
Fear of Trump? Well, duh, that’s rational.
Fear of failure? It has all happened before and it will all happen again.
Fear of success? I could live with that.
Fear of heights? You never want to get to the bottom of things with that one, but I could fall for that fear.
Fear of planes, trains, and automobiles? Really, it’s a hilarious movie.
Fear of books? What?!? The?!? No, just no.
Fear of fear? Nothing to fear but…
Yoda got it so right, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering”.
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” ~C.S. Lewis
Some days I feel I’ve lost something, or am missing something. In those times, I go about my life with a weird, niggling feeling gnawing at the base of my skull.
Slowly I come to the same conclusion, it feels like fear, but it’s grief. Loss of loved ones, loss of health, loss of what could have been, loss of civility, loss of decency, loss of honour, loss of dreams as they fade into changed expectations.
Yet, at these moments, “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” Jane Austen, my courage hasn’t always risen – I’ve been intimidated, dispirited, badgered, ruffled, browbeaten, disheartened, constrained…But sorry not sorry that’s a thing of the past (and it can stay there) https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/07/15/see-you-again/
Fear is likely even part of my procrastination issues https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/02/07/after-all-tomorrow-is-another-day/. I’ve made a promise, to myself, to let my courage flag fly, I can’t always let them grind me down…
I used to believe if I tried to control everything I could control, even conquer my fear. That I could stop bad things from happening. Nope. The only thing I can control is how I react to fear. How I react to the bad things.
I’m out of control and loving it (when I’m not terrified beyond words).
Trust yourself. Respect yourself. Not the Fear. https://yadadarcyyada.com/2018/08/17/all-were-asking-is-for-a-little-respect/
And I hope you know, you can always stand under my umbrella (not with the Umbrella Corporation, they suck), or dance with me in the rain.
yadadarcyyada 