“Fear demands the same answers. A yes, or a no. Capitulate within oneself, or refuse to submit to attrition.”
Nadine Gordimer wrote those words. She was a Nobel Prize winning author who wrote against apartheid in South Africa and for those afflicted by the AIDS epidemic.
I was exploring the memoir section of the library when I came across her collection of essays, Telling Times, and opened the book to the page where those words were printed.
I re-read them maybe ten times. Why? They capture the exact decision we must make whenever we feel afraid – capitulate or refuse to submit to attrition.
Are you afraid of something in your life right now? Change? Overcoming an obstacle? Pursuing a dream? Taking a risk on something or someone?
If so, Gordimer’s words might be worth a second read.
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On Emotions 