Dylan Stewart
Columnist
The fear sinks in
It grabs you
Pulls you
Whispers in your ear
The fear that has always been there
Sitting idly by
Waiting for the right moment
Nibbling in your subconscious
Plotting and planning
You know how bad things are
By how loud it gets
How much it talks to you
How viciously it wields it’s weapon
Fear is the root
Fear is the wound
Fear is the string that controls us
We jump
We run
We bark like a dog
When fear is yapping at us
We shrink back
And answer
Like it holds the truth
Like it holds power over us
Like it knows us
Better than we know ourselves
Because it does
It has always been there
From the first time you stubbed your toe
From the first time you were left alone
From the first time you were rejected
It sung out
Like a falsetto prophet
Eager to convince you
Of your failings
Your weaknesses
Your flaws
Fear gets under your skin
Under your heart
Under your head
And wreaks havoc
Because it can
Because it knows you are afraid
Because it knows you believe
That it is the truth
But somewhere inside
Somewhere forgotten and lost
Somewhere in shackles
Your soul knows better
Your faith knows better
You know better
Too long it has held sway
Over your every move
Too long it has tightened the bonds
That have held you hard and fast
To your perceived limitations
Too long it has had its way with you
Telling you who you are
What you can do
And why you will fail
But the wicked secret
Is that fear is afraid
Fear is scared
Fear is small and alone
And it knows it
Fear is a weak and pathetic tyrant
Screaming and demanding
Your attention
Your subservience
Your greatness
As some payment to hold from you
In its tiny coiffures
But once you know the secret
Once you hold your power
Once you step from the bonds of slavery
From the shadows of your reactivity
From the doubt of your greatest self
Fear has no power
Because it never had any
Except what you gave it
And the time is yours to redefine
Yourself
To re-examine
Yourself
To stand on your own two feet
And realize what you are
Who you are
Why you are
And step back into your seat of honor
And own your future once more
And remember
Remember that above all else
You are pure potential
With an unwritten future
And a legacy of light and possibility
Now kick off your chains
And remember who you always were
And become that again
For the first time