At the beginning of the year, I didn’t make any resolutions, but I did choose a word for the year.

Something to work toward and be truer of me by the end of the year:

Fearless.

I chose this word, well, because I tend towards being a pretty fearful person.

And what I’ve come to realize as we’re getting closer to the end of the year is that being fearless does not mean I’m never afraid.

It doesn’t mean I don’t have fears.

It means the fear doesn’t go away, but I can still do something afraid.

It means I can value something more than what I’m fearful of.

It means fear doesn’t have to hold me back.

And maybe, just maybe, fear isn’t such a bad thing.

Maybe fear is an opportunity. Maybe our fears can help us learn and grow, rather than restrain us.

In the face of fear, I can learn to be courageous.

In the face of insecurities and doubts, I can learn to be confident.

In the face of the unknown, I can learn to be valiant.

And maybe, in some way, that makes me even braver than if I had no fear to begin with.

Yes, I have fears.

But when I do something in spite of them, they start to have less power over me.

And somehow, ironically, that makes me more fearless.