Life Half Lived Essay, Research Paper
What I want most in life is to be able to look back and say there wasn t anything I regret, no chances I didn t take, and nothing I passed up. Life is to short to be spent asking yourself “what if?” What if I had tried harder, done more, been better. There are many things beyond our control that keep us from our dreams, but fear is the worst, and we bring it upon ourselves. Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary describes fear as
“A painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger.” Fear can hold you in a grip so tight you feel as though there is no way to escape it, but overcoming it gives a gratifying sense of triumph and pride. Life is a journey and full of scary things, but there is no breaking new ground without leaving the beaten path.
This was the theme of the movie “Strictly Ballroom”. It was best described by a character in the movie when she said ” A life lived in fear is a life half lived.” To live your life in conformity is to keep yourself from your full potential. The main character in this movie was a dancer who wanted to show the world what he could do, but was told since he was a child to do what the world said he should. Had he given in to his fear of going against what was considered the correct way, he never would have made a difference. The woman in the film helped him to realize that he could be more then what others wanted for him. By doing things his way he made his mark on the world of ballroom dancing and achieved his dream of becoming a champion. He broke free of the mold, and so over came his fear.
People fear many things, and of these, the most common is failure. People feel that they can not express their true emotions without the fear of people looking down on them and branding them as being different. But, people neglect to realize that some of the greatest and most influential people in the history of the world have been those willing to take risks. You can not make a difference if you are no different from the main stream. Shakespeare, in his time, pushed the limits and is now the most famous writer ever to grace the pages. Besides being translated in every language and taught in high schools across the country, he contributed many words to the English language. Other historical figures that contributed so much to our collective knowledge were seen as heretics and greeted with much skepticism. Such as Socrates, who was killed for challenging the norm. People laughed when Christopher Columbus first said he thought the world was round
Fear of rejection also keeps people from many wonderful things in life. If your fear of rejection or pain were so great as to keep you from close relationships, you would be missing out on one of the things that make life worth living, love. Sometimes the greatest risks can yield the greatest rewards, and love is certainly the greatest reward I have yet to receive from life. To live life to the fullest is to take every chance at grabbing something that brings you joy. Every attempt will not be successful, but like the lottery motto goes, you can’t win if you don t play.
No longer do we live in a world where we can create our own standards without feeling ostracized by the society that forms the standards for us. A life lived in fear is a life half lived, and I for one will not let society decide what or who I can be. I won’t give in to fear, and when I look back at my life, it will have mattered and I wont regret one moment. Very rarely does one walk into the gifts of life without first stepping out of line. To face fear is to truly live. Who could have wrapped it up better then Franklin Roosevelt when he said, ” We have nothing to fear, but fear its self.”