GO FOR IT

"It is true that you either live your life from fear of love, but it is truer that most people live their lives based on fear. And when we do, it prevents us from becoming the inspiring people that we were meant to become. St. Catherine of Sienna which was the patron saint at my Newman Center in college said, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” And I believe it.

There are few times in my life where I have felt more alive than when I have done something that I was extremely afraid to do. Even if things didn’t turn out the way I wanted, I knew that they had turned out well simply because I had conquered my fears. And I honestly think that’s what most of life is about – conquering your fears. Because when you don’t, all you end up with most of the time is wonder and regret.

You often here this a lot, but life really is very short. We’re here maybe a couple of decades and then we’re gone. And what will have to show for it if we get the opportunity to lie on our death bed and reminisce? We’ll have the leaps of faith we took, the chances that we took; the moments of fear that we conquered. We’ll have the moments where we texted or called somebody in the wee hours of the morning professing our undying love. We’ll have the moments where we stood up and took action for something that we believed in. We’ll have the moments where we courageously followed our vocations no matter how they turned out in the long-run. We’ll have the moments where we were courageous enough to put our love before our fear.

Sometimes we’ve got a lot to lose and sometimes we’ve got nothing to lose. But all the time, when we don’t take the risks that in our hearts we feel we need to take, we lose finding out who we are – who we really, truly are. So the next time you’re afraid of doing that thing that you think you cannot do, take a shot of courage. Whatever kind of shot that might mean to you – whether it’s a shot of liquor, a phone call to someone who builds you up, or a quote from your favorite author. Take that shot, and ask yourself, “What have I got to lose?” And bloody hell, just go for it."