"Hello, fear."

I said hello to my fear.

Today it was my fear of failure.

Tomorrow it may be a different fear.

Like the fear of not being perfect.

It's so hard for me to embrace imperfection.

I try to embrace it anyway.

I hug it.

I get to know imperfection.

I become intimate with the fear of imperfection.

I'll put myself in a situation where I know I'll be totally imperfect.

Like stand-up.

Like AGT.

I'll try to feel the fear and do it anyway.

Loving the fear like my own child.

Why not?

It's my own little creation.

I practice holding the fear in my gut.

I practice breathing into the fear.

I practice exhaling the fear with my breath.

That's letting go of my fear.

And I have to do it each time I recognize it.

Like daily.

And love is letting go of my fear.

This whole thing is probably the hardest thing I have to do every day.

To be human is to hold on to fear.

To let fear run the show.

Fear is normal.

Fear will always be there.

I'm a doctor.

I'm a writer.

I'm both.

I won’t let go of either.

I'm open to both.

I love both.

I fear both.

Love matters.

So does fear.

Fear matters in that it teaches me how to love.

I use the fear.

To teach me.

To teach me to transform it.

Into love.

"Hello, fear."

Let's do this.