Fear

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Everyone has their fears in life and this is nothing to be embarrassed about, I’m scared of spiders and snakes some might be fearful of clowns but the thing that matters is not letting your fears dictate your lifestyle. What good is the fear of losing to a person if it doesn’t let them compete, overcome it and feel the excitement of winning by gaining experience in losing. There comes a moment in life when a person has to face their fear in life and if they prevail in the context then they have succeeded in going above and beyond their personal limits and winning in life.

One of my biggest fears is dying in a fatal accident, I dream of a death in my bed when I’ve witnessed the glorious earth and surrounded by my children and grandchildren satisfied by my life. This doesn’t stop me from enjoying life to the fullest just the other week while travelling across Pakistan we came to a place known as Fairy Meadows. The way to reach this paradise is full of terror first there is a jeep drive of 2 hours on a mountain where you can see a valley in which a river is flowing, I mean literally you can see your death bed on the bottom of the valley. I was on the jeep and had my eyes closed pleading to God to save us somehow during the whole journey. I can’t explain the feeling at the moment in words it was like my heart was pumping outside my chest it was hard breathing, we had finally reached a junction and I breathed a sigh of relief but to my despair there was a 2 hour hike up to the top of the mountain. In the back of my mind I had a thought of going back and missing out on one of the most beautiful views on Earth as one of the scholars quoted that Time just stops in Fairy Meadows when you indulge in its beauty. I gathered all of my courage and began my journey ahead it was 5 pm at the time and the sun was setting, my friends were with me and they gave me the confidence to continue, we started our difficult hike towards the destination.
My shoes weren’t made for hiking and we didn’t have proper equipment but still went ahead, the journey was really hard and it was tough breathing as the height increased. During the hike it felt like we were walking for more than an hour but when we looked at the time it was only 20 minutes from the start of the journey, this was demoralizing my courage and I had hit rock bottom, all of this was going on when I stepped on a loose rock and slipped on the trail my friend quickly grabbed me but this was enough for me and I made my mind to return. This is where true friends come in hand they all stood firm and said that all of us will reach the top together otherwise no one will. This made me feel guilty as my shortcomings would make my friends hard journey come to a halt. I stood up gathered my confidence and focused only on one goal the top of the mountain.

We had made ¾ of the journey and by now it was pitch black the trail had gotten quite wider I mean it was 10-12 feet across so I felt safe we all had torches and were walking smoothly, suddenly a local came and he said that due to rains during the past couple of days the trail ahead was in bad condition and that we must be careful while walking on it this sprung back all the fear that I had deep within my heart. As we moved forward the trail became really rugged and narrow we could only walk in a single row and at distance water was flowing across the trail and it was really slippery my friend ahead of me slipped by the wet surface and we had to pull him up, now it was really quite around us we were the only ones still hiking when suddenly my hearing was focusing on something. It was the river flowing across the valley we were walking at more than 10,000 feet above a valley where the river was flowing and making the scariest of sounds, it was a scene from a horror movies just needed a ghost or something. When one of my friend put his torch towards the valley we just couldn’t imagine how deep it was just that if somebody falls they are dead. With that in mind we continued praying while walking I could already imagine my death there and then with so many regrets, but after 15 minutes of walking we could see the lights from the main camp at the top this boosted our morale and we focused on our goal once again. Finally reaching our destination and the next morning we woke up to this beautiful scenery.

The journey made me realize some important life lessons, death never arrives at the right time it can occur at any instant enjoy life and explore the world while you can. Every journey is difficult but the end result is what makes it worth the pain. You must overcome your fears if you want to succeed in life facing your fears head on is the best thing you can do, and lastly there is always light at the end of a dark tunnel focus on your destination rather than the journey ahead this makes every journey seem like a joyride. Fearing something is normal human nature but overcoming and learning from it is a choice and you have to make it, go out there and beat your fear because you only live once.