What Are You Afraid Of?

Fear is an ally. Make friends with fear from “A Time To Kill” by John Grisham


How do you make friends with fear? You face them. You have to do something that you’ve been terrified of doing with the faith that you will survive through the ordeal.


At first I was afraid I was petrified…


That brings us to figuring out the answer to the overrated question: What are you afraid of? In the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Eowyn (Miranda Otto) answered this question beautifully. “I fear neither death nor pain.” What did she fear? “A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. And all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.” As things go haywire, you try to run to prevent harm but all you can do is watch and accept the reality that somehow, the world is conspiring to keep you from doing anything to help. Like maybe you weren’t meant to win this battle.



Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) had a good answer too in “The Replacements.” He said one word: Quicksand. He further explained that it was the feeling that everything was going your way and in a split second, everything goes wrong. Then you do everything you can to get back in the game but the more you struggle, the lower you sink until you can’t breathe. Quicksand. Like somehow, you weren’t meant to win this game.


A lot of my friends are afraid of the flying ipis… somehow you can’t kill it no matter how accurate your aim is. It goes on flying across the room and terrorizing you no matter how deadly your slipper is. It threatens to land on you as if it doesn’t matter that the whole house is reeking with the fatal smell of Baygon. Like somehow, this ipis is immortal… you were never meant to kill this ipis.



Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? It’s the sound of inevitability.” That is what I fear most… the inevitable and my own Agent (later on Mister) Smith saying, “Do you hear that? It’s the sound of inevitability.” My heart beats faster at the realization, my palms get sweaty and I get panic attacks because in the middle of the process of trying to salvage things, I hear the sound of inevitability. I hyperventilate as I try to do all I physically, mentally and emotionally can to prevent what I know is unavoidable—the kind of fortuitous event that the law defines as “forseen but unavoidable even with the exercise of diligence of a good father of the family.” Like somehow, I’m not supposed to finish this race.
But I grew strong And I learned how to get along…


Face your fear. Maybe I’m meant to lose this game. Maybe this is not the battle I’m meant to win, not the ipis I’m meant to kill. So until I find what’s meant for me and the universe conspires to help me attain that goal, I have to go through quicksand again, attempt to kill another flying ipis, find another way to escape from the cage and hear Mr. Smith say that it’s the sound of inevitability with the hope that the inevitable is a happy ending.



Oh no not I...I will survive As long as I know how to love I know I’ll stay alive…


Fear is a friend. It will help you find your destiny.
What are you afraid of?







-submitted to www.peyups.com