[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f I could remove something from this world, it would be fear. I hate it. And it comes in a billion different shapes and colors. Sometimes, it looks like Jehovah’s Witnesses, or cellphone bills. Sometimes, it looks like Jim Cantore.

But I’m not talking about little things like spiders, snakes, or rats. I’m talking about the hard stuff. Fear of rejction, of lonlieness, or failure.

When I was a toddler, no one explained adults feel more fear than children do. But it’s true. And it only gets worse the older you become. First, I was afraid of bad grades, hot-tempered brunettes, and gym shorts. Now, I’m starting to fear things like unqualified barbers who text while they cut hair, and I still fear hot-tempered brunettes.

And, the biggest shame is that we don’t talk enough about the things that make us less afraid. About the tokens that take the sting out of being alive.

I wish kids heard more about miracles, about Claude Monet, John Wayne, Merel Haggard, and dolphins. That every child could taste buckwheat honey, or ride a horse – just once. To know that puppies are our greatest gifts; that God made Conecuh County, Alabama smoked sausage with His own two hands; that hide-and-seek is more important than straight A’s; that it’s always appropriate to shout “kick his ass!” during a football game; that kissing is as good as life will ever get; that humans are capable of real love. That we don’t have to be afraid.

That things will be okay.

That everything will be okay.

No matter what.

 

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