Cowardice, Laziness, and Complacency

Fear is a part of life.  We've all felt it.  Most days we face adversities; some of which are bigger than others.  Everybody feels fear.  There is nothing wrong with fear.  In fact, fear can be good.  Fear can serve as a motivator for us.  Conquering our fears can lead to a major rush and also help to strengthen our self confidence.  For instance, when somebody who is afraid of heights jumps out of an airplane for the first time, they feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment.  Adrenaline is flowing.  When they land they feel like they are the kings and queens of the sky.  Sometimes when we are feeling fear, we stop and think about what we are doing.  A risk analysis if you will. After thinking it over we may say to ourselves, "Self, this isn't a good idea.  Sure, my friends really think it would be cool if I could jump from my roof into the pool, but I'd really not like to break my legs."  This is being smart.  This is us listening to our fears, and helping them to lead us to logical decisions.  So far so good.  

But fear can lead to cowardice.  Cowardice is when we are afraid of the outcome of something, so we don't do it.  We are afraid to fail. Cowardice is present when the man doesn't try to run a marathon because he is afraid he will look stupid if he can't finish.  Cowardice is present when we don't speak our mind because we're afraid people won't like what we have to say.  This isn't good.  Cowardice stems from a lack of self confidence.  We need to overcome these fears, to really achieve.

Laziness doesn't have any good aspects.  Laziness comes about from boredom, and apathy.  We find ourselves in a funk where laying around seems to be the better choice compared towards working to better ourselves.  Laziness comes from a lack of self discipline.  Of course it's easier to stay inside and watch movies on that rainy Sunday.  You could go to the gym, but you worked hard all week and you deserve some time to relax.  This isn't too bad really.  We all need relaxing time. But when this becomes the majority of the time,we are lazy.  We don't care enough to push ourselves.  It could even be said that our cowardice feeds our laziness.  When afraid of failure, it's easier to not even try.  This is laziness isn't it?  Isn't that what we do when we decide to watch Matlock all day?  

What do you get when you put cowardice and laziness together?  Complacency.  Basically, when we become complacent, we train our minds to accept our current situation.  We are too afraid, and too lazy to change our situation so we just tell ourselves, "Self, you don't have it so bad."  When you're complacent, you aren't sad or depressed.  You also aren't fulfilled.  There is just enough satisfaction to keep our living conditions and mindset acceptable.  This is so wrong.

Each and every day is a gift.  We need to use it to better ourselves.  Complacency is the mind's pariah.  Complacency is the biggest killer of our dreams.  We are afraid of failure.  It will be hard to put in enough work to get what we want.  So let's just convince ourselves that where we are now is fine.  How ludicrous is that?  I get it.  It is very EASY to fall into the trap complacency sets for us.  The thing about complacency is that, most of the time, we don't realize we're being complacent.  Complacency is manipulative.  That's why it's imperative that we look inwards often.  Take a look at yourself and really think about what it is that you want in life.  How are you going to get there?  What scares you about it?  What excites you?  Take all of this information and turn it into motivation.  Never, ever let fear, laziness, or complacency get between you and your goals.