A Brief Case of Fear

Fear is one of the things that paralyzes many of us from taking the next step whether it be faith, family, or chasing the job of our dreams. Often there is something about the unkown that hinders us from taking even the smallest steps. I always remember the people that I run into that seem to have no sense of fear and are the ones that just seem to just brush off failure.

Fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

Within the last couple of months, I have had the great opportunity to open the books of two incredible warriors of our time, Marcus Luttrell and Mark Owen. Both men were part of the most elite military unit in the world, the United States Navy SEALs. These men are called upon to carry out some of the most dangerous military missions in the world. They are men who seem to walk with no fear. There aren’t many who aren’t fascinated with some of the tasks that these special men are able to do. Delving into their respective books, Luttrell’s Lone Survivor and Owen’s No Easy Day, has been a great test of courage for me.

In Lone Survivor, Luttrell and his teammates are assigned to take out a high value target. The team is dropped off in the country miles away from where they know their target is located. Everything goes as planned until their mission is compromised and they are forced to attempt to fight their way out of a really bad position. Three of Luttrell’s teammates were killed in battle and only he survived. The fight in these guys is something that is just incredible and honorable. In the book, Luttrell describes vividly how his teammates fought until their last breath and fear was never an option.

No Easy Day is a detailed story of what happened on the night of the killing of Bin Laden. Owen walks through almost every detail leading up to this dangerous mission. Even when things went wrong as they searched for their target, did any of the SEALs show a sign of fear. They knew what their purpose and mission was and knew nothing would take them away from accomplishing it.

Through both of these books I can pull tons of things away from how to conquer our fears. While many of us will never be able to call ourselves SEALs, there are definitely some characteristics that we can take away from them.

1. Get around people who will challenge you to push through your fears. (P.S. Not everyone wants you to defeat your fears.)
2. The conquering of fear can be trained (if serious about it!).
3. On the other side of fear there is often something greater and not as scary as we thought.
4. Come up with a plan to conquer your fear(s).
5. We were created to conquer fear and dominate it!

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.
 — Unknown