Fear.


46

 Fear.



                                  

"How I wish I was able to do that." This is something that people who are involved in the creative arts of any kind can often hear said. The other thing they hear are the words, "I do not have any talent." 

But have they tried?  Because it is often the case that people who declare they cannot do something have never tried, or they have at some time in the past made a tentative attempt and decided very quickly they cannot do something. 

Once upon a time, there was a man who kept parrots. All but one of his birds could be seen regularly flying around the large space they had in which to have some freedom. The one that did not fly spent its day sitting on a branch. No matter what the owner of the birds did he could not get this one beautiful bird to fly.

He tried everything he could think of even asking his friends for help. Then one day he met a farmer who said he would take a look at the bird. Ten minutes after he arrived the bird could be seen flying around with the others. 

How did he manage this? It was simple he took a saw and he cut the branch where the parrot spent all his time sitting. The parrot had no alternative but to fly. So what is it that stops many people from trying to take part in the creative process? Fear. What are they afraid of? Is it a failure? But why fear something before you try? Maybe they fear those who are better than them and that they may not attain the same level. But again, how do they know? The only other thing that can hold one back is the fear of losing one's pride or the disapproval of others.

The Tao Te Ching tells us that, "We can achieve great things and they may not seem perfect. But we can achieve even more."

We are all able to achieve but fail to gather the courage which is required to reach heights of success and end up clinging to the things that are familiar to us. We need to free ourselves from our comfort zone to explore new opportunities and find success beyond what we believe to be our ability.   We have to let go of fear and begin.

"In all things stay calm and Tranquil, the world will sort things out for us."
                                                                                                            

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