One of the most arresting features on the Galápagos Islands is the docile nature of the animals there. Most people are aware of this fact and assume that the animals are unafraid of humans because we have been visiting them for so long that they have lost their fear of us. That’s just not the case.
It’s not that the birds and other animals are used to humans, habituated to our existence. Rather, for millennia, they had no reason to be scared of us, or of any other creatures. In fact, the largest land and air predator is the small Galápagos hawk. There was and is no need to have a fight or flight reaction to possible predators, including humans.
Humans came late to the scene on the Galápagos, just under five hundred years ago, and our presence has been spotty. Those earliest visitors noted that the animals had no fear of them, thus the nickname, the Enchanted Islands.
Now that the islands are protected, there is even less of a reason for the indigenous inhabitants to be scared of us. We are just those creatures with two legs that look at them with two eyes or through a lens.
What if we lived without fear? And I don’t mean fear of snakes, spiders, heights, or other phobias. But rather, an attitude of fearlessness, approaching life without trepidation, as if something exciting is always around the corner.
Now, obviously a certain amount of fear is healthy. I’m not advocating unbuckling your seatbelt or jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. Insurance policies have their place. Saving for the future is prudent. I’m speaking more about the fear that holds us back from gaining our true potential.
Fear of failure will certainly hold us back from achieving what we desire. But if we don’t try, we will necessarily fail. We will never gain an insight into what we are capable of if we remain idle in the face of a challenge.
What about fear of success? Is that even a thing? Sure it is. If we do something really well, we may fear that we will be called upon to repeat that success. We risk developing imposter syndrome if others think we are more expert than we view ourselves to be.
Living without fear in our relationships leads to vulnerability and honesty and deep connection. Feeling afraid keeps us from fully engaging. We don’t want to be hurt or disappointed. But in the end, isn’t it worth it? Isn’t the chance of finding a new friend or a deepening connection with a loved one more satisfying than wondering “what if?”
Then there is the fear of the unknown. How best to embrace bravery in these situations? Researching something may make us more comfortable with an unfamiliar situation before jumping. But sometimes we are called upon to just jump.
I sometimes like to be surprised, especially if I feel that the odds are in favor of it being a good surprise. I come up against this sentiment most often when traveling. For two summers in a row now, I have figuratively jumped at experiences of hiking in Europe. I jumped because the opportunity was too hard to resist. I actually did very little research into these two trekking adventures. I just went with my gut because they sounded so damned appealing. And exciting. Discovering a special local restaurant or shop in a city I’m visiting is also a thrill.
If we live our lives in fear, are we really living? Sometimes we just need to put down the fear and leap.