365QOD- Day709

“Be not afraid.  Fear is what stunts our growth, narrows our ambitions, kills our dreams.” Anna Quindlen

The other day I watched a Ted speech by Karen Thompson-Walker on fear.  It was a memorizing speech. It presented fear as stories we tell ourselves.

In the speech the presenter told the story of a ship that was struck by a whale of the coast of Chile.  The ship crew had three choices:

1. go to an island near by that was full of cannibals and get eaten
2. go to Hawaii but since it was the hurricane season they would die
3. go around the southern part of the continent but they would run out of supplies

So the crew did not want to get eaten and chose not to do option 1.  Option 2 was ruled out because it was certain death also. 

They chose option 3.  It was the story which induced the least amount of fear.   Interestingly enough they ran out of food and became cannibals.  They ended up becoming what they feared.

Today’s question is:

“What stories do you tell yourself to rule out options?”