So much to fear

Bumped into someone the other day who said he learned how to fly an airplane because he was afraid to. "I don't believe in living in a spirit of fear," he said, "and the fact that I had this paralyzing fear of flying made me mad." He used that anger to move himself forward and get into the sky.

Whatever works to overcome the paralysis of fear!

Just as an exercise on the pervasiveness of fear, I dropped on by the USA Today site this morning, and I saw that duh, the world can be a scary place. Headlines:

"Will fares go so high that only the rich can fly?" Fear of rising prices, economic turmoil ...

"Banks apply overdraft fees before purchases clear." Financial institutions are beginning to extract their pound of flesh even before accounts are actually overdrawn but appear to be headed that way. Fear that even those you trust with your money are taking control (and cash) away from you.

"2 U.S. soldiers killed by bomb in Baghdad"; "Attackers kill 16 police at Chinese border post." Fear of increasing violence everywhere in the world — maybe my hometown, or yours, is next.

"Tropical storm Eduoard gaining speed over Gulf." Fear of Ma Nature.

"Foreclosure rescue scams multiply." Fear of rodents who prey on desperate folks.

"Report: Cold medicine could be life-threatening for babies." Fear that your baby might die.

"Medical residents lack sleep, despite policy change." Fear that YOU may die at the hands of a sleep-deprived doctor who makes a mistake.

Just a friendly Monday reminder, words of wisdom from Tom Petty: "Most things I worry about never happen anyway." Whatever you're afraid of, it probably isn't going to kill you, and you do have the power to overcome it. So tuck the fear away as best you can, and deal with it.