Fear or Hesitation?

“Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true.” – Bohdi, “Point Break”

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I couldn’t have said it better myself!  If you truly fear something, it will come to hurt you in the most peculiar way and when you least expect it.

Our favorite runner of all times, Usain Bolt – the fastest man alive (for now), has acknowledged that he was afraid.  It didn’t come out right away, not right after he was disqualified at Daegu Stadium, as he was preparing to run the usual men’s 100 meters sprint.  Specifically, he jumped the gun a bit too soon, and took off before the appropriate start of the race, thereby, getting thrown off and officially losing.

Initially, Bolt just laughed it off and put on a good showmanship mask after the DQ.  However, as time went by, he admitted and spoke at length about being scared.  In his case, he feared losing.  That’s right, in his mind, he cannot imagine losing EVER and, as a result, psyched himself up so much and so far that he just false-started.

Bolt is still the man at 100 meters, no matter what, and he will most definitely reclaim that unofficial title.  Everyone knows that he is simply superior to anyone else alive today, physically that is.  But what about mentally?  As Patrick Swayze, …..or excuse me, Bohdi said in “Point Break”, shown above, fear is one of the most primal and influencing factors, often controlling the outcome of any event in life.  He feared, he hesitated, and his fears of losing came true!

Is there a way to control fear?  I think the answer, again, is in the same quote by Bohdi – it is all about the hesitation.  It is ok to be afraid, to have that natural fear of something that could possibly negatively affect you, everyone has it and those that say they do not – are simply lying.  But I believe that while you may be afraid, perhaps that same fear can be used as a driving force, as a source of some crazy energy, pushing you forward and not allowing you to hesitate for a moment.

If you don’t hesitate, you don’t stumble.  Use that same fear, that same nervous energy to control the emotions and swallow them up, literally, and project peacefulness to the outside world.  I guess what I am saying is – act, pretend!  If you can convince the outside world that you are not afraid, perhaps you can convince yourself, too.  And if you are pretending to be relaxed and calm and unafraid, well, then maybe your fear will not take over after all.  Just bottle up that fear inside you and control it, and let it explode out when the time is right and project it into the craziest energy possible!  At the right time, that is.

Keep your engines running!

5 AM Runner