The Fear of not doing it

A few years ago while living in New York, I decided to move to Argentina. I had always wanted to live abroad, and I felt very strongly that it was the right time.

Moving to a foreign country meant a lot of changes needed to take place—quitting my job, subletting my apartment, figuring out what the heck I was going to do once I got to South America. There were a lot of potential obstacles, a lot of uncertainties, and a lot of fear that cropped up. Was I making the right decision? Was I completely nuts? But ultimately the thought of not heeding the call to live abroad was scarier than my fear of change. I knew that not doing anything would feel worse in the long run. So I took a chance and made it happen. And I’m so glad I did.

It can be very scary to listen to your intuition and follow your heart. That’s why many of us don’t do it all the time. What will happen if I take that risk? Will I fail? Will they be disappointed in me? Will they judge? And, yes it can be absolutely terrifying.

But what if we looked at it from another way. What about the fear of not doing anything? Of not trying. Of living with regret or deep longing—how scary is that?

Isn’t it scary to think of a life half-lived?

When we look at it that way, maybe we should just go on and do it. Whatever “it” is. Fear is there regardless, so why not do the thing we really want to do?

When the fear of not doing it is scarier than the fear of going for it—that is the moment we take action.

Which road will you choose?