Fear pt. 2

“Seize the day” it is a saying so common that it has become cliché. It’s easy to offer encouragements in well intended generalities. Though, I wonder if we give enough thought to what we are “seizing?” More often than not, it is leaping too quickly for the wrong opportunity, for fear of losing it, that is our undoing rather than a failure to act. It is this panic over the possibility of a lost opportunity which reveals that one is not being courageous and seizing the day, but, in fact acting out of a cowardly desperation, thinking that what they imagine they have today, might possibly be gone tomorrow.

While it is true that these hasty choices often lead to great opportunities for personal growth and a dramatic increase in self-awareness, this enlightenment often comes at a painful expense. The unhealthy romantic relationships, life draining career moves, regrettable purchases and investments all teach us something about ourselves, but leave us wondering if there weren’t an easier way to learn those lessons.

The movie “When Harry met Sally…” left us with the line, “When you’ve found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to start right now.” It stands to reason though, if they truly are the one you want for the rest of your life, they'll still be that person tomorrow. The rest of your life can start at any point. In fact, since the passage of time is a continuous process, the rest of your life has already started.

It can only be fear that drives one to insist that things have to happen now. Or, to insist that if things can’t happen now, then plans have to be made now in an attempt to lock things in as much as possible. It can only be insecurity that pushes one to, in some cases ignore their conscience, miss warning signs, and allow another to convince them to make decisions they ordinarily wouldn’t.

It seems like when things have to be “right now” it can be as much about fear as indecision can. The right decisions today are still the right decisions tomorrow. As the Prophet Muhammad-sall Allahu alayhi wa salam- said:

…Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you and what has befallen you was not going to pass you by….