Growing up taught me a lot but one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that with growing up comes fear and with fear comes a standstill. As a child, I remember being absolutely fearless. I would run up and down the streets playing tackle football with boys twice my size; I would try absolutely anything whether it be jumping off of huge rocks or jumping into bodies of water, nothing instilled fear into me. I remember having no issues in telling my “crush” that I liked them or completing any dare that my friends set me out to do. The craziest thing about all of these events is if you asked me months ago if I would do any of these things, the answer would immediately be a no. I’m not too sure if it’s out of actual fear or if it’s more of a fear of the unknown/rejection but I stopped living. I stopped experiencing lifes unknowns, I stopped living in the moment but ultimately I stopped living. I stopped doing things that made me smile, I stopped dancing in the rain with no shoes on, I stopped singing at the top of my lungs walking down the street, I stopped taking risks that scared the hell out of me, I stopped smiling at the unknown and even more so, I stopped laughing at the madness.

I don’t know if I’ve grown to be more afraid because with aging comes wisdom and awareness and with awareness comes feelings of inadequacy and the fear of being a disappointment or embarrassment but I do know I’ve become more afraid. Certain things seemed too out of the norm, they seemed too risky and most of all, they scared the hell out of me. Something I’ve noticed in the recent months though, is that with letting go of fear, and expecting the unexpected, the happiness in your life amplifies and you find beauty in all of the things that you once feared. The feeling of shaky hands as you go on that roller coaster you’ve always been afraid of, the sweaty palms as you try out for that new gig or go on that interview that could change your life, the taste of a stranger’s lips when attraction seems to be the only force keeping you on earth. A word of advice to those afraid of the unknown, if it doesn’t scare the hell out of you a little bit, you aren’t really living. After all, great things can never come from comfort zones.