Here Be Dragons!
Fear of the Unknown
Pushing the Edge
Land of the Shadow
Far Side of the Swamp
Fiscal Cliff
The Ghosts in the Shed
Beyond the River Styx
The Edge of the Earth
Demon Town
The Dark Side
Bogeyman in the Closet
Mordor, Where the Shadows Lie
Empire of Darkness
The Undiscovered Country
Chuck Yeager didn’t invent Fear of the Unknown. But he did coin a powerful phrase: “Pushing the Edge of the Envelope!”
The fear has been with us forever of course, with a variety of descriptive language and evocative images and legends. Every tribe has its own way of referring to that unspoken shiver and the tendency to back off from what’s new, unfamiliar, and perhaps threatening. It only makes sense — imagine what could happen!
And that is where we draw the line.
In our experience, there is more than too much imagining of the fearful potential outcomes, and not nearly enough positive imagining of endlessly wonderful futures!
Straw Poll: Try it out. Tell us about it. Posit a new idea. Put it out there with your family, your team, your church, or school. What’s the average immediate response? Positive? Ha!
So, what’s operating here? We suggest that this is a question of a “cultural lesson learned too well…” Certainly, there are risks inherent in any un-tested or un-proven undertaking. Sure. But a life played with a “must not ever lose” strategy is certain to produce a lifetime of “roads not taken,” chances not embraced, and opportunities left knocking. One might not ever lose, but a life without risk — is guaranteed to be bland to the point of death. It’s life… but only just.
Backing away to satisfy a fear takes no notice of or even denies the existence of an upside. What are the possibilities? What unparalleled outcome is at hand? What glorious opportunity awaits the calculated risk taker? What’s the possible payoff? Face it! The world is an endless display of potential — IF you first open the door!
All right, maybe there’s no guarantee. But look at the burden we assume by always and only considering the downside. By rights, shouldn’t we take the counsel of our dreams just slightly ahead of the fears?
So that’s it. We are creatures with vast potential, which we tend to severely limit by giving outsize consideration to all the bogeymen in all the closets. And we give none or not enough to the angels of our better nature and the grace of a life lived on the path, to the sunny mountaintop breaking through the clouds.
Step over the edge; and into the miraculous. Slay the Dragons!
Applications
1. Personally
This is personal. How is your world? Is there a careful, risk averse nervous Nelly at the helm of your life? Sit ’em down for a chat and survey the possible outcomes. Don’t throw caution completely to the wind; just back it off a bit and allow yourself to believe; and maybe bet on a bigger, better future.
2. At Home
Everyone learns life lessons, and many of them get “hammered in” leaving an individual outwardly apparently fine, but inwardly limited, constrained, and careful. In the face of all the possibilities, such people step back from the edge and get in the pool only when pulled. Don’t let that happen to your kids — or your mate. Be the “bad guy,” (on the side of the angels) and push ’em on into their own success.
3. At Work
Your team, your company, your boss, and your colleagues all live with the same fears, worries, shadows and dragons — and all are just as substantial as yours — meaning: perhaps – not – that significant. Don’t overturn the apple cart here and bet the stockholders’ money on a long shot at the track! But be one of the first to welcome a new idea, a new perspective, an unusual proposal or a chance to go “all in” if you figure the odds favor a risk. “Chance, and life favor the prepared mind.” If you’re arguing to weigh the risk against the potential reward, you might just leave the dragons in your wake.
Now, this little discussion may sound like a lecture from Mom. (And “What’s so bad about that?) But we think the truth here is that the road to hell is paved with a thousand little bad habits — like always attending to the fear instead of the crazy, risky reach for glory! There’s no joy, excitement or novelty in a life spent staving off another abeyant defeat while “sheltering from the dragons.” The truth is many of those demons, dragons and shadows are merely that: Shadows. So take a tip from Mom here. Give your magnificent potential a shot. Step into the light, face down the dragons and discover a new world!
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