I'm currently on a tightrope between a fairly stable past and an uncertain future, at that point where it would be more difficult to turn and go backwards than to simply press forward into the unknown. We fear the darkness where demons dare, but even nature Herself has devised a complex ecosystem of nocturnal organisms that flourish in this darkness. The night is not something to fear, but merely another niche to fill with life.

I'm scared of a lot of things. Chief among them is what most men are afraid of: inadequacy. I'm afraid that I simply can't or won't be enough. I fear that when confronted with the challenges life tosses at me, I won't have the courage or strength to rise to the occasion, or the wisdom to know how. And I'm afraid that this very fear will keep me avoiding those challenges.

Like most people, I've spent most of my adult life attempting to overcome my fear of inadequacy by consistently shrinking my own world and managing it in order to keep it small. The best way of convincing yourself that you're adequate is to minimize what you're responsible for. It's certainly much easier to feel like a big person when you keep yourself confined in a small space than if you venture into the great wide open.

I now believe the people who insist that you should have grand aspirations. In dreaming big, you don a garment that might be several sizes too big for you, but with persistence, you'll grow into it.