Lily C. Being Fearless What does it mean to be fearless? … “To me, “FEARLESS” is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, FEARLESS is having fears. FEARLESS is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, FEARLESS is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. FEARLESS is falling madly in love again, even though you’ve been hurt before. FEARLESS is walking into your freshman year of high school at fifteen. FEARLESS is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again… even though every time you’ve tried before, you’ve lost. It’s FEARLESS to have faith that someday things will change. FEARLESS is having the courage to say goodbye to someone who only hurts you, even if you can’t breathe without them. I think it’s FEARLESS to fall for your best friend, even though he’s in love with someone else. And when someone apologizes to you enough times for things they’ll never stop doing, I think it’s FEARLESS to stop believing them. It’s FEARLESS to say, ‘you’re NOT sorry’, and walk away. I think loving someone despite what people think is FEARLESS. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is FEARLESS. Letting go is FEARLESS. Then, moving on and being alright…That’s FEARLESS too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and Prince Charmings and happily ever after. That’s why I write these songs. Because I think love is FEARLESS.”
-Taylor Swift, Quote
*** Everyone fears something, whether it’s playing sports, trying new things, losing a loved one, dealing with mean kids, trying to fit in, or being who you really are. There are many times where I have felt fearless, like the time I moved to a new gymnastics gym when I was five. *** I walked into the cool, air-‐conditioned gym by myself while my mom stayed in the waiting room. I noticed a lot of girls around my age, but also a lot that were older. The walls and floor of the gym were all blue, and there was a pit in the ground filled with foam blocks. “Hi Lily, welcome to Energy,” one of the coaches named Matt greeted me with a welcoming tone. “I’m going to see what skills you can do so I can put you into a gymnastics class.” I chewed my gum while listening. “Lily could you go spit out your gum?” Matt asked, calmly. “I wouldn’t want you to choke while doing gymnastics!” Next thing I know, I feel my cheeks start to burn, they way they do right before I’m about to cry. I started to worry. Am I doing the wrong thing by chewing gum? I thought. And then I, being a shy, sensitive five-‐year-‐old girl, turned around and ran back out to my mom, crying. “What’s wrong, Lil?!” She said, worriedly. I just buried my face in her arms and cried. I was overwhelmed with the fact that I was in a new place, talking to people I had only known for about five minutes. After a few minutes of hearing my mom say “It’s okay…” I got up, wiped the tears and walked back into the gym for the second time. Now I’m ready, I thought. ***
Lily C. That was my first time at that gym. There were several times after that, when I had been afraid to do a gymnastic skill for fear of hurting myself. And I only occasionally felt like giving up on doing gymnastics, because it is a difficult sport. For example, a few years ago I was trying to do an aerial, or a no-‐handed cartwheel, and I kept instinctively putting my hands down. I got so frustrated, but I knew I had to keep trying in order to stick it. *** If you do or have ever done gymnastics, you know that it’s really fun and that you usually become very close to the people who do it with you, because you’re a team. But when I was twelve, I switched gyms again, which was really hard for me. This new gym, called Exxcel, looked pretty similar to Energy, but was bigger. It had the same blue walls and flooring, too. It had all the same apparatus: balance beams, bars, a tumble track, a vault, and a big blue floor. But, the other girls on my team weren’t the nicest. They made me feel left out most of the time, and some nights I would end up going home after practice, and crying while telling my mom about it. As soon as I exited the gym, I would walk out to the car, where my mom and sister were waiting. *** One of the most important ideas I now know is that “FEARLESS is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again… even though every time you’ve tried before, you’ve lost,” because it is SO worth it. If I had given up on gymnastics, I wouldn’t be where I am right now! Also, I’ve learned that it’s okay to let yourself cry once in awhile. I still have fears, because I’m not perfect, but that’s the whole idea of being fearless. *** One of the people I look up to wrote a quote about what fearless means to her. I think she’s amazing because she writes songs that people can relate to. They’re not just songs, though. They tell stories, and that’s why I chose to include this quote in my story. Everyone struggles with fears, but I think that it’s important to see that the strongest people are the ones who are terrified of something, but go for it anyway. Being fearless doesn’t have to mean that you don’t have fears… What does fearlessness mean to YOU?