12th Oct, 2023
While travelling through a little Himalayan kingdom, the Zen master decided to visit a temple.
As he walked in through the temple gates with his local guide, he saw two large, ferocious dogs chained to the iron grills at the entrance.
They were straining at their chains, their tongues were wagging, the saliva was dripping & they were barking non-stop – Just the kind of sight that could instil fear in anybody’s mind!
‘Don’t worry, master!’ said the helpful guide. ‘I know they look really scary. But the chains are very strong and there is no way the dogs can break free!’
The master continued to walk down the long courtyard towards the main temple.
Even as he tried to concentrate on the temple’s history that the guide was narrating, he kept looking back at those dogs. The sound of their barking seemed to be echoing in his ears.
And as he looked back one more time, he saw that the dogs had broken free from their chains & were running towards him.
Instantly the master started to run too – directly towards the dogs!
Yes, he began to run—not away from the dogs, but towards them!
And guess what happened? The dogs were so surprised to see the master running towards them that they quietly turned and went back towards the gate!
Think of those ferocious dogs as symbolizing the biggest fears in your life.
What do we all tend to do?
We tend to run away from our fears & hope that they will go away.
Take a leaf from the monk’s book & run towards your fears.
Confront your fears, embrace them & you will find that you can conquer them!
Many of us go through our lives with a constant fear of failure.
We are too scared to try new things because we are afraid we will fail. We live a life of unfulfilled potential because we are too scared to get started. Break the cycle, face your fear, give it a try & You will be surprised with the result.
Scared of water? Join swimming classes!
Scared of public speaking? Grab every opportunity you get to address a gathering.
Scared that you might fail in your dream entrepreneurial venture? Well, give it a shot and get started.
Never mind the outcome—one thing is guaranteed. The fear will vanish.
Someone once said that FEAR is really an acronym for ‘False Expectations Appearing Real.’
Once you understand that, you could take a big step towards achieving your dreams.
The ICC Cricket World Cup is on & let me draw a cricketing analogy.
In the Lord’s Test between India & England in 1990, Replying to England’s first innings score of 653 for 4 declared, India were 430 for 9, when the last man walked out to join Kapil Dev.
India needed 24 runs to avoid the follow on.
With just one wicket left, the pressure was on, the threat of a follow on loomed large.
Tension, fear & anxiety filled the air
& how did Kapil Dev respond?
He hit four sixes in a row & knocked off those 24 runs needed to avoid the follow on.
That’s the way to deal with your fears. Confront them, take them head on, or as Kapil paaji would advise you, hit them for a six & stay blessed forever.