Day Sixteen

Toward the end of spring break the word “fearless” kept resurfacing in my thoughts. After playing with the word a few times, I realized it would symbolize the year of living intentionally. Being intentional is a challenge. It is easy, as I discovered yesterday when writing the letter with Tyler, to slip back into safe modes of thinking. To be intentional and manifest your dreams and goals you must become fearless.

When the word really came alive in my thoughts I realized that it is one of the few “less” words that is positive. The others – hopeless, thoughtless, and most of the other “less” words are negative words. The word fearless literally means to be without fear. All of us have fears from time to time, we cannot simply eliminate fears. The question is what do we do with our fears?

Do our fears control us or are we able to control our fears? Do we act out of our fears or do we act having overcome our fears? Do we let our fears create stumbling blocks or do we move forward in spite of those fears? When we face our fears and relinquish their control over us, we begin the journey to fearless living.

Being fearless is a choice, an act. It is choosing to act because we know that there is something greater and more important than our fear – courage, faith, hope, love, impact. Last night I was alone at home for supper. I took my meal into the den to watch a movie for a few minutes. I chose “The Longest Yard,” the updated version with Adam Sandler. The idea was mindless entertainment for a few minutes before I started the evening work.

Adam Sandler’s character is a Super Bowl MVP quarterback who was banned from football because he intentionally lost a game. In gambling language he “threw the game.” His life spiraled down. After a drunk driving arrest he was put in prison for three years. The prison warden was a huge football fan who created a good semi-pro football team composed of the security guards. The inmates talk the guards into playing a game that you later discover is televised by ESPN. The guard team is a powerhouse. The inmate team is supposed to get trampled.

The inmates make a game of it. At half, the warden tells Adam Sandler to throw the game or he will spend the next 25 years in prison. In the third quarter Sandler does just that. The guards take a comfortable three touchdown lead. The inmates realize that Sandler is throwing the game and let him get tackled hard a number of times. Finally, in the fourth quarter he realizes that he can’t throw the game. He admits to the inmates that he did throw the game in the NFL because he was in debt to the mob. “I don’t want to do that again,” he says.

The team rallies and wins the game in the final seconds. Because Adam Sandler’s character became fearless, he rallied this own team around him. It was mindless entertainment, but it reminded me of the power that comes when one person becomes fearless.