LET GO.

I was having a convo with a friend/student of mine who had recently faced their fear of heights.  The activity required them to "LET GO", as many fear facing activities tend to do.  The problem with this is that our fear tends to make us tense up, and constrict our muscles as well as our minds.  Pretty much anything that you can think of requires one to relax so we can release our energies.  Think about it. (I'll wait...) 

We hold on to the familiar.  In many cases, that means fear.  We hold on to our fears because they have been with us forever, and they have kept us "safe".  Holding on usually involves rigidity, and prevents the necessary flexibility to deal with new circumstances.  Fear of failure causes inactivity.  Fear of falling prevents leaping forward.  Fear of solitude prevents venturing into the unknown.  Fear of pain prevents aggressive action.  Fear of embarrassment prevents learning new things.  Everyone does it, myself included.

LET GO.

Watch a small child.  As powerless as they are, they lack fear.  They have healthy, natural, caution, but they tend to fear very little.  They have no fears to hang on to.  Now think about the first time that you did something "crazy" when you were young; you probably didn't fear death or dismemberment, just not accomplishing the task at hand.  

When you put it into a martial context, holding on is poisonous for 2 reasons:

A) It causes hesitation; Hesitation kills speed and flexibility.  You know your speed and range, but you think about your opponent striking you first or blocking you.  Think like that and they will.  Every time.

B) It fills your mind with what you have; which takes up space and limits the new information you can process.  Think of your hard drive.  You can't learn Kung Fu if your Karate is in the way.  And vice versa.

In life, to progress, learn and grow are things that many of us hope to do until the end.  We've got to strike a balance between learning and taking what is useful versus just holding onto information for information's sake.  Once the information is integrated into our being, it becomes us.  We don't have to call it up in order to use it.  New experiences and information don't threaten the old. They enrich it.  Think of stretching.  When we stretch to our limits, we tend to tense up.  Now how counterproductive is that?

Think about the last time you went somewhere and got right up to the moment and froze. Punked out.  You could've punked out at home, but you didn't.  You could've punked out on the way there, but you didn't.  Why punk out at the last moment.  Unless there's some new information that you weren't prepared for (in which case, it's not punking out, it's called being unprepared) then why go all that way and NOT finish?

Fear is real, and it isn't (OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH.)  The reality of fear is the reality you assign to it.  When people engage in "extreme" sports and activities, they've either overcome or mitigated the fear factor.  When we let go of that fear, our vision clears, as does our path.

LET GO.