What are your Fears?

The morning was mildly warm with this teary dry breeze, tickling the leaves of the trees in the neighbourhood on that Thursday. It was one of the happy holidays when school was on recess. And after hurriedly finishing the chores, yours sincerely went out to holiday.

The thought of riding a bicycle was exciting. So, I mounted one troublesome  'buzanga' bicycle to have a ride on that day. This was after bargaining with the owner who was hiring the bikes, for my choice of the newest mountain bike. But he won't release that bike, because my little savings for the week, couldn't meet the fee the guy was charging for hiring the mountain bike.

So, I reluctantly settled for the other tired but resilient 'buzanga' bike. I moved on the newly shaved feeder road linking the town to the hospital city and hastily paddled the bike to gather speed, I needed to climb down the hill.

Just when I was about climbing down the small hill at the outskirt of the city, a big truck belonging to the contractors working on the feeder road, approached with a hungry speed.

I was frightened, confused and startled, because I saw death coming. Momentary, I managed to turn the bike off the road and landed in a gutter near the cemetery near the submit of the hill.

I heard the driver and his assistant cursing and insulting me, when they passed.

After the dust which followed the vehicle settled, I picked the bike, straighten the steer, and wipe the blood-stains on part of my elbow and feet as a result of bruises I sustained, before pushing the bike back to the operator. 

He was surprised I had brought the bike too early, but I was too frightened to even share my ordeal or the reasons why I returned the bike that early.

Indeed, it was a close shave of death and only God knows how I managed to escape. 

The fear alone made me boycott riding bicycles for some months.

That experience really got me thinking this morning. 

And I asked, so what caused this fear thing in us?
How could the fear of death kill my appetite to ride a bike for some months?

Over the years, I have realised that we all have fears.We have something or incident that frightens us.

We may know some of what causes these fear, but we might be in denial of these reasons. Mine was a near death experience that heightened this fear thing, and though I might not know yours, I think we all have something that excites our fear.

Sometimes, we fear to voice our concern not because we are deaf or dumb but because it could be the result of the way we have been brought up. This, however, shouldn't be confused with gentle calm learners, who often act shy.

We know of instances where some children and adult are timid and can't stand up and speak against the ills or evil being perpetuated against them, for fear of being victimised or for reasons that  the environment doesn't encourage people to speak. Some of may rather keep quiet in order to protect their jobs or their source of daily bread.
  
Sometimes, we need to buy the admonishing of good old wisdom to act with caution in the steps we take or how we speak against ills.

But in our efforts to progress into a future we crave for, we need to permit our children to ask questions and be themselves, even as we encourage them to respect others.

We need to deal with the fear factor that is making most of us suffer silently, while we look on, as our relationships and development suffer needlessly.

Yes, the fear of death;
The fear of the unknown;
The fear of how people will react to the truth;
The fear of being branded disrespectful or 'too-known';
The fear of incurring the wrought or displeasure of our superiors;
The fear of losing our source of livelihoods and our very lives;
The fear of making mistakes and fear of being criticised;
The fear of what people would say about our actions or reactions,
And the fear of suffering the consequence of our actions, and our initiatives, has dwarfed a lot of potentials and affected their growth and our collective development.

Fear has a way of making us feel inadequate for a task, which ultimately kills our enthusiasm, hope and makes us lose out on becoming the good stewards we ought to be.

It is for no reason that sages and holy scriptures keep encouraging us to do away with this toxic bile called fear.

So dear Reader, please FEAR not and be assured that God's with you.
Just be your best and live, while respecting the values in principles.
Do have a pleasant day.
Greetings
#KYB ✍®#