Good Fear and Bad Fear

Photo part borrowed from Poler.com

"Fear and panic are two separate emotions. Fear is healthy. Panic is deadly."

Leave it to Hollywood to claim ownership over a theory I thought I'd developed years ago. Guess there really are no original ideas. Actor Gerard Butler feeds this line to Johnny Weston's Jay Moriarity in the surf biopic Chasing Mavericks after the younger surfer panics during a shark encounter.

Fear has been a guiding hand in my life since I was pretty young. I'm inherently scared to try things—we're all born a certain way and no matter how we portray ourselves to our peers, the fact is we're either introverts or extroverts. But I've never been a believer in the "status quo." So I've learned how to break off those shackles and become an adventurous person. I swam with sharks. I've flown in a tiny plane. I've jumped off of cliffs and into murky water, surfed bigger waves than I knew how, climbed challenging routes, trusted my equipment more than I should have, moved across the country by myself.

Here's what I've learned: Fear is important, because it helps us take calculated risks. Panic is fear's ugly sister who clouds our judgement and causes needless mistakes. But like Butler said, they are two separate emotions. My most important advice for new adventurers is to learn the difference—it could save your life.

One of my favorite pieces of advice is to "do something everyday that scares you." But when you take that and run with it, just remember to evaluate if what you're feeling is good fear or bad fear.