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Live life with passion. Live with purpose. Live with heart. And live with love. Dare to live valiantly, and die but once. Dare to be greater than even you know yourself to be. I believe that is our greater than human design.
In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”:
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard.
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
Our universe is Yin and Yang. The universe in neither all light nor all dark. There’s only brave in afraid. There’s only afraid in brave. Humanity distinguishes in the balance of brave and afraid. There are no real victors, no real vanquished in life’s journey. We’re all just people doing the best we can, discovering our purpose. We all discover life in its unique balance.
I fear a lot of things. I fear dying. I fear living in suffering. I fear failure. I fear being wrong. I fear losing control. Often, I fear I’m not good enough. Sometimes, I even fear being me. I fear moving forward, afraid of the unknown future. That’s my human design. In a way, that’s a blessing as well, keeping me honest, keeping me humble.
Our fear is physiological in nature. Survival centers of our brain operate to preserve, to survive as our primal directive. Yet, the possibility of brave is also by design. The possibility of love is by design. The possibility of becoming greater than you know yourself to be might be our greater than design.
Werner Erhard asked, “How I am going to be in the face of what I fear?” Yes, looking at my fear is truly frightening. As I accept my fear, possibility arises: Who I am going to be? Who I will become? Werner said, “Anything you can let be, lets you be.” Freedom is the design of being human.
Be present in life. Surrender to what goes on outside you—what you have something to do with. Surrender to what goes on inside you—what you have nothing to do with. They’re all your zero, your human baseline. You get to create you from here.
I choose who I’m going to be in any given moment. I can choose greater than I know me to be in the presence of my fear. Kobe Bryant said embracing greater than is “as much about love as it is fear”. He said, “It’s not easy.” Kobe’s right. So I dedicate. I practice. I “just train”. Discover my balance.
Be valiant. Endure. Discover the possibility of brave in afraid. Distinguish afraid in brave. Bruce Lee said, “Free your ambitious mind. And learn the art of dying.” Sometime I’ll win. Sometimes I’ll lose. I reveal honor in both.
Fear is part of the human experience, a part of life. Accept the lightness and darkness, the strength and frailty, and the possibility of the greater you. So I dare to love with all my heart. I strive valiantly, to fail bravely with honor, and to make a difference for others.
I don’t think we can truly know our destiny. Yet, we can remain true to ourselves and keep open to what’s possible. We surrender to what’s possible: win or lose.
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Photo credit: Pixabay
Lisa – The picture is awesome!!