A Kick in the Attitude: An Energizing Approach to Recharge your Team, Work, and Life

Chapter 10. A Kick in the Attitude Principle #8: Courage Is the Defining Force That Conquers Fear, Average, and Bullies

Fear is a shadow, not substance.

—Judo Master Han

To say "live with courage" is easier said than done. It's a giant leap and one that often requires a push. I forget how old I was when it happened, but when my first tooth came loose, it was right on the edge of coming out. It wiggled back and forth to the point it was annoying. Mom and Dad suggested I pull it out right away. At that suggestion, I remember the tingle of fear running up the back of my spine in anticipation of pain and the unknown.

Fear is a beast that we often feed with worry and it grows into panic and anxiety.

Attitude Kicker

Worry is a dark room where negatives are developed.

—Unknown

Fear has a way of introducing a person to himself. A majority of fear is made up of what we create in our imaginations. Fear can be a false representation of what really is.

After graduating from college, my brother and I rented a small apartment in an old building that came furnished with scary and odd sounds late at night. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water and seeing a shadow race through the hallway. My gut dropped to the floor and you could hear my heart beating in my chest like a drum. I stopped in my tracks and thought, "There is someone in the house! Now, wake up the entire building with your man-scream that sounds like a monkey who just had his banana stolen."

I made some sounds, ...