“Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life.”

—Naguib Mahfouz

For much of my life, I felt ruled by fear. Like a despot in charge of my life like a banana republic. Fear of alienating myself, of offending my classmates, or never fitting in. Fears which didn’t end when I left school. They persisted into college, into work, into relationships. Even into my relationship with God.

Fear of doing the wrong thing, of change, of being seen as a fraud. Fear of making any mistakes. Or of not risking enough.

But here’s the thing. Even Jesus names that as a problem. Fear of death is an obstacle to living.

Of all the things worth shedding from your routine and your life like a bad habit, fear is at the top of the list.