Fear, Death, and Winning

Winners are not afraid to lose. A key factor in cultivating a winning attitude is to face and conquer fears.  Many people run from their fears, however, and they pay the price: They are afraid to take risks and passively accept a mediocre life. And at every moment, they suffer unbearable regret.

Existential philosophers argued long ago that death is inevitable and that it is vital to accept the inevitability of death. Facing our fears, and even death, allows people to grow psychologically. A classic episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation illustrated how facing fear allows people to grow psychologically. Captain Jean-Luc Picard has an artificial heart. While a young man, he got into a bar fight and was stabbed through the heart. At times he felt the loss of his actual heart was an impediment and wished he had been less impulsive in his youth. Perhaps if he had taken a more conservative, risk averse approach to life, he would still have his biological heart instead of the artificial one that robbed him of some of his humanity. But when given the opportunity to see what would have happened if he had avoided the bar fight and kept his original heart, he found that he did not end up as the Captain of the Enterprise. Because he did not face his fears early in life, he spent the rest of his life playing it safe. He did not achieve greatness.  It takes courage to win. Don't be the kind of person who runs from fear.  Winners are not afraid to fight. Winners have the courage to face fear, and even death.