The Only Thing That You Have To Fear Is...Yourself
Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels
Not too long ago, I watched a powerful TEDx YouTube video, “What a 15-year-old meth addict taught me about leadership,” featuring Brian Fretwell (Amazon Affiliate link). This wasn’t the first time that I had seen it. However, this time around, something made me watch it again but more deeply.
Summary: Fretwell shared his account of being a 22 year old working with teenage addicts. One in particular was a 15 year old meth addict caught up in an inescapable pattern of drug use. He kept trying to get through and help him set some goals, so that he could focus on them to get and stay clean. The young man alluded to the high probability of relapsing, as soon as he completed his program.
At the story’s climax at around the 11:00-12:00 mark, Fretwell asked the teenager what he wanted out of life to which the teenager responded,
“Mr. Fretwell…I don’t want this. I don’t want this life. I want to have a family. I want to be the first in my family to make something of this. “
Every time that I get to this part, it hits me hard. I can’t imagine any of what the young man experienced. Inside of those words, I can comprehend his frustration at knowing what he should do vs. what he would likely do. Indeed, old habits can be hard to break.
In the video, I heard Fretwell use a quote that I later found out came from Marianne Williamson’s poem, “Our Deepest Fear” in her book, A Return to Love (Amazon Affiliate link). In Fretwell’s words paraphrasing Williamson’s,
“It’s not our darkness that we fear but our light that we’re most afraid of.“
I can think back to many times in my past and even recently, where I wanted to move past a place in my life and wanted something better, but was afraid and hesitated. Perhaps I was afraid that what I thought was on the other side really wasn’t there or wasn’t real. Regardless of the reasons for holding back, I can say that wherever you are now can’t be as bad as where you want to go.
Not too long ago, someone reached out to me regarding my last piece, “Going A Little Bit Further: Why You Shouldn't Quit Yet” and said how they took away a lot from it and it helped them through a rough patch. In some ways, I consider that piece and this one two sides of the same coin. While “Going A Little Bit Further” was more about holding onto tenacity, I feel that this piece is about getting out of your way and believing not only in yourself, but, also, in the path before you.
As I’ve continued on my path toward self-improvement, I have read various texts ranging from The Bible to Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (Amazon Affiliate link), Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich (Amazon Affiliate link) to newer books such as Ask and It is Given (Amazon Affiliate link) and Alex Banayan’s The Third Door (Amazon Affiliate link). Some repeating themes that I have found are faith, tenacity, defining a good path and following it; and, believing in yourself, even when everyone might question you. When trying to live and work boldly, perhaps even undertaking something that no one else has done, I feel that the last point is the most important. Whether talking about faith in God, faith in the Universe or faith in yourself, it is FAITH that carries you through. At its most basic, faith begins with believing in yourself.