“I’m afraid” I said.
“Come on its nothing. See all of them are enjoying it. I
love skating”. She was still standing in front of me, with no intentions to
move an inch from here without taking me.
“Listen Rafia, these shoes . .”
“Call me Foo. I don’t like that name”. She did not let me
complete my sentence.
“Ok listen Foo. I can’t . .”
“Did you just call me Fool?“ She asked, looking into
my eyes.
“No no I didn . .”
“You better not”. She looked satisfied. “And never say I
can’t in front of me. I hate this word. One can do anything if one wants
to. At least I can do” she said with an element of pride in her tone. She was
three years younger to me. I smiled at her innocence and replied in her tone,
“oh really? Can you jump from the top floor of our house?”
“If I want to”. I smiled at her confidence.
“ok then I don’t want to . .” I tried to say but could not
complete.
“You bought skating shoes, came here because you don’t want
to try skating. Oh yea! Thank you for the information”. Now she was laughing
sarcastically.
“Fine! I’m afraid. I told you already I can’t do it”
“Come on Fifi give me five minutes and I will take away your
fear”
“My name is Furqan and I’m elder than you” I did not like her
calling me Fifi.
“Ok Fifi uncle now please no more arguments” And then she
gripped my hand and started moving.
That day I learnt that just the first step is difficult.
Once you close your eyes and take that first step, your fear is gone. I was
enjoying skating with her and I did not fall down even for once. And then she
gave me a sudden push and made me strike the wall and fall down and said “Fifi
you will not be afraid of this trivial thing anymore”. I realized that fear of
falling was worse than actually falling. The same happens to us throughout our
lives. We indulge ourselves in pointless fears. We stay unconscious of our
nerve unless they are tested. And when our worst and biggest fears turn into
reality, they prove to be of far lesser gravity and effect than they seemed to
be.
It was a great lesson for me. Its helps me whenever I’m
afraid of losing, afraid of falling, afraid of being hurt, afraid of loving and
being loved, afraid of expectations, afraid of taking chances in life. Life
laughs at those who keep staring at the water, but it helps those who jump into
the river and challenge its strength. You will be afraid of it if you don’t
give it a try. As soon as you take the first step, your fear is gone.
Excitement is about “do or die”. Life is about taking chances. You are wasting
yourself if you are not taking the first step just because you are afraid of
failure. Remember it’s a bigger failure that you lost every chance of trying.
Think about it.