Most of us like to think that we are fearless. It’s nice to think that we’re adventurous, immune to heartbreak, on the way to chase our dreams and live life to the fullest. It seems like no one wants to take the safe path. So why is it that most of us end up doing just that?

Meant to keep us safe and prevent us from harm, it’s weird to think that fear can hurt us. Fear can stop us in our tracks and begin to control us. Fear forces us to rethink our initial plans and we end up taking the safe route. We stay in relationships we aren’t happy in, we apply for a major that seems more plausible, and we save for the future rather than looking for instant gratification, all because we're scared.

So why? We know what we want and for some reason we take a path with less risks. We take the harmless route and plan for later. We look for a better time to complete our dreams and we put off what sounds risky for another time.

Fear stops us from going for what we want. How many times has someone questioned if they should apply to the major of their dreams given the fact they could fail? How many times has someone asked a friend to a date party because they’re unsure of what their crush might say? If we never try then we’ll never know. Sometimes we would rather wonder what could’ve been instead of taking the possibility of failing.

In theory, it may seem like a good idea. Who looks forward to being hurt? No one hopes for heartbreak, to fail at something they’re passionate for or to give up their dreams, but we do. Fear harms us. By not even taking the chance to complete what we want, we already fail. Sure, if we don’t take an opportunity, then we don’t have the chance to fail, but trying beats the hell out of taking the safe route.

We should all strive to be the fearless person we set out to be. This doesn’t mean trying to go without being cautious, because it’s human nature to worry. We are never going to be free from fear, but we need to learn to live with it. While technically we won’t feel pain from (possibly) failing, we will feel the pain of wondering what could’ve been or the pain of not really enjoying what we're doing.

Are we scared of failing? Are we scared of not being successful? If we take the chance to see that fear is just a possibility, and the judgment of others or just in our head, maybe we can face it and see that we really aren't that scared.

Fear can be a good thing by pushing us to work harder. However, when fear starts to consume our hopes, and we stray away from our passions because we don’t want the possibility of failing, we need to face it.