In my life, I�ve had multiple fears. Fear of heights, insects, and probably almost every other fear that you can think of are some, just to name a few. Well, perhaps not �every-. But that isn�t the point. What is the point? That, my dear brothers, is a fine question to be asking yourselves. What could possibly be Normandy�s biggest fear? What could it possibly be that Normandy is afraid of?

Given, my ways of overcoming my fears are probably not all that �nice�, but they have worked nonetheless. I overcame my fear of heights by continually insisting on jumping off objects. I even insist on going on roller coasters. Even now, I fully intend on keeping my fear of heights away. If I�m within the weight limit by this summer, I fully intend on going skydiving. There�s no ands, ifs, or buts about it. I want to jump out of a perfectly good plane and put all my faith into a parachute.

But this is not really the point I am trying to make. Nor, is this the biggest fear I have. Of all the fears I have ever had, the one thing that I am most afraid of is failure. It haunts me even in the very waking hours of the day. It plagues me; it haunts my dreams, invades my life, and threatens to take me completely hostage. Failure can be a paralyzing fear.

Am I doing my best? Why do I insist on giving up? Why, why, why? The question, alone, holds a crushing grip on my very person. Why did I wave the white flag too early? Why didn�t I just stick with this or that? Why didn�t I try my best to get things on the right track sooner in life? Why, why, why? Life will always be filled with the �whys� and the �what-ifs�. There is just no question about it.

I don�t want to fail at attaining my goals. I don�t want to fail at life. There is nothing I fear more than being that ninety-year-old woman that is sitting there on her deathbed saying, �If only I had done things differently�� I want to live a full life. A life that I will have no regrets on living. But I don�t want to fail.

Perhaps I take easier routes because I am afraid to fail. I take the routes that I know I will succeed at, without having first fully explored the full length of the harder road. I give up too easily. Failure is a terrible tool, a horrible bedfellow. It is something I must cast aside; something I must forget ever exists. It�s the only way to fully appreciate life, and the only way I will know for sure that I didn�t give up too early.

Here�s to tossing away failure and embracing the unknown.