Chapter 10 – Fear is Not Your MasterDear future me,I know how fear feels. It sits quietly in your chest at first, like a small weight. Then it grows. It speaks in a voice that sounds like your own, saying things like, “What if you fail?” or “What will people say?” Fear is clever — it doesn’t shout, it whispers. And those whispers can stop you from moving at all.I have let fear stop me too many times. I have thought of ideas, but didn’t try them. I wanted to speak, but stayed quiet. I wanted to take a step forward, but told myself, “Not now.” The truth is, I was not protecting myself — I was trapping myself.Future me, fear will not disappear just because you want it to. It will always be there in some way. But you have a choice: you can obey it, or you can keep moving despite it. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is action in the presence of fear.Think of all the moments you were afraid but still moved — the first time you spoke up in class, the first time you stood in front of a crowd, the first time you tried something new. You were afraid, but you did it. And later, you felt proud. That pride will always be louder than the fear, if you give it a chance.I wish I had learned sooner that fear often lies. It tells you the fall will kill you, when really the fall will teach you how to fly. It tells you people will laugh, when in truth most people are too busy with their own fears to notice yours.Sometimes, fear is just a sign that something matters to you. We don’t get afraid over things we don’t care about. That means fear is not a wall — it’s a signal. It’s telling you, “This matters. Go for it.”I know it’s not easy. Your heart races, your hands sweat, your mind runs to every possible bad ending. But remember this — the worst endings are usually in your head. Life rarely plays out as dark as fear imagines.Future me, promise me this: never let fear be the reason you didn’t try. Let the reason be something else — maybe the timing was wrong, maybe the opportunity wasn’t right. But not fear. Never fear. Because regret is heavier than any risk.One day, you’ll look back and realise the things you were most afraid of were not as big as they seemed. You’ll wonder why you gave them so much power. You’ll wish you had walked sooner, spoken sooner, acted sooner.So now, let’s start small. Speak when your voice shakes. Step forward when your legs feel weak. Do the thing even if your hands tremble. Over time, the trembling will stop, but only if you keep moving.Fear is a shadow — it looks big, but it has no substance. The only way to make it shrink is to walk toward the light. And the light is your action.Future me, you are braver than you think. You have survived so much already. You have faced days you thought you couldn’t handle, and yet you are still here. That means fear has never truly won — it only slowed you down. Don’t let it slow you anymore.Next time it whispers, whisper back: “I hear you, but I’m going anyway.”And go.Because every time you move through fear, you collect a little more courage. And one day, courage will be the louder voice.
