Fools Rush In

Fear not,
What is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed.
Bhagavad Gita

There is a state of ecstasy and wonder that is experienced by all humankind. We witness it in small children who seem to have no fear in their explorations and discoveries. It is only after hearing “no”, “be careful” and “stop that!” over and over that they form their fears.
But that wonder and ecstasy is the natural state of our soul. IN that state, we know who we are and we operate from that essence. We are courageous and creative.
The phrase “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” and “Look before you leap” are the opposite, telling us to look at every angle and make a rational decision before trying anything. Ever seen a two year old do that? I haven’t.
I have a two year old nephew and I love watching how courageously he goes about things.

When we first fall in love, many times we abandon our logic and we have a stretch of time where we feel that wonder and ecstasy. Others may think the relationship is all wrong, we may ignore everything else in our lives during that time and we sure don’t look before we leap.
We are just floating along, two feet above the ground, our eyes glazed over with cupid hovering nearby; a silly grin on his face. We don’t care what anyone thinks and it’s as if we are the only ones out in public, everything else becomes a blur.
Ah, doesnt that time feel so fabulous?? What a fool we make of ourselves!

I once heard a radio program explaining all of that, why it happens, what is going on in our brains and why it ends. Very interesting indeed, but I’m not going to go into the physiological process.
What I wanted to explore was the fact that that state of courageous wonder and ecstasy is available to us to draw from at any time. It is always within us. It is there when things get stale or rocky in our romantic relationships. It is there when we feel drained and have no energy. It is there when we feel creatively dry and can’t seem to implement a new idea. The fact is that even though we are adults, we should still tap into that childlike wonder and be courageous enough to be who we are, (even if it makes us look or feel like a fool) and to move forward with no fear.
I like the phrase “Leap and build your wings on the way down” a lot more than “Look before you leap”. I spent too many years being so careful all the time.   I think we go through  a cycle- first of being fearless as kids, then we move into creating fears, then trying to overcome our fears (while still being bombarded with shoulds and should nots) then as we get older and closer to that time when we again become more ‘childlike’ we slowly start to let go of fears, and we again become more of who we really are.
Why wait? It is a resource we have within that is so valuable and accessible-if we can just remember how it use to be!
To fully love, to fully give and to fully receive, you have to know who you are, at your core. And sometimes, we need that extra does of courage to get over the dry,stale, rocky stuff.
Stephen Spielberg commented in his acceptance speech when receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes that he constantly asks himself during a project, “Am I going to get away with this?” He also said that if he isn’t asking himself that question, then he knows he isn’t doing his best work.

What are the ‘fears’ holding you back?