a not-so little thing

A little thing you can do that is actually a big thing is to find a thing that scares you and purposefully do it.

Not in any dangerous type of way. I am not talking about swimming with alligators. I am not talking about juggling chainsaws or jumping out of airplanes without a parachute.

I'm talking: if you don't like elevators, take one. If you don't like airplanes, book a short flight. If you don't like heights, go somewhere high and look down. If you don't like crowds, go in one the next opportunity you have.

Voluntarily exposing yourself to what scares you is different from when you have to do it.

When you exercise the choice to do something, the operating mechanism is bravery, will power, agency. When you have to do it, it's survival, reactivity, passivity. They might appear to be the same situation on the outside, but it's the inside that is different. You augment yourself on a higher plane, executing a preemptive attack on your fears instead of the inverse. You will catch it off balance, collapse one of its knees. And the more you do it you will push it over, completely dismantling it's power.

It's similar to bullying a bully. Actually, it's exactly that. Just this time the bully is you, in your head.

Find a way to challenge that mother fucker today. Doesn't have to be a huge step. Something small will do.

The feeling afterwards will feel better than you think.