Fear by Nicole Jordan “Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live” Dorothy Thompson Fear has always stopped me. It has always made me think too much about doing something crazy or taking a risk. I didn’t want to feel my face become red with embarrassment, or feel my heart pumping a thousand beats a minute. Well, I wasn’t going to let fear stop me forever. When I was younger, almost every time I went over to my friend’s house, we would play this game in the sand pile by her house. We would make a dug-out fort in the pile to protect ourselves from the Owl. The Owl was my best friend’s dad. I was so frightened of her dad. He was extremely tall, wore these big glasses, and had such a thunderous voice; I dreaded that part of the game. I used to hide in the fort the whole time. I would wish we could just play something else. One of those days when we played that game there was a new rule: you were only allowed in the fort for as long as you could hold your breath. Then, when you had to breathe, you would have to go out and touch the wall on the other side of the yard. I wanted to go home, not play something else, just go home. I did play, though, and after a few trips to the wall the Owl got me. He was chasing me, and I was running as fast as I could, holding the tears in. He caught me. He flung me over his shoulder and ran to where he kept his prisoners. My friends came running over and got me out. It was a blast! From then on you rarely caught me in the base. I was running around having the time of my life.             Then I got older. Middle school started. I was quiet and was only really myself around my friends. A few months after school started we had wacky hair day. I went out on a limb and wore my hair super crazy. When I went to school, I was shocked when everyone loved my hair style and wanted me to do their hair for wacky hair day. That was when I realized that the other kids had accepted me for who I was all along. Over the year I came even more out of my shell. On the last day of school of 6th grade I showed my teacher and a group of kids a dance that my friends and I had made up. I was making sound effects and being myself the whole time. After I was done my teacher told me that was the most she had heard me talk all year. I smiled and thought: I’m not going to let my teacher think that next year.              A week ago my friends and I stood in front of Hannaford’s holding a sign that read feed the world, and shouting: CARPE DIEM! SEIZE THE DAY! I was not the least bit dreading it before we went, I was thrilled, and I couldn’t wait. When we were there I wasn’t at all embarrassed. I was having fun. I looked at that same best friend and thought back to the owl game. What would have happened if I hadn’t met her? Would I be at home reading a book right now? Who knows and at that moment, I didn’t care; I was too busy showing the peace sign to people who were getting groceries.             You could say that what I learned was to never let fear get in the way of living my life the way I want to. I used to dream of a job were I could stay hidden from the world. These days, I’m waiting ‘til the day everyone sees me on the big screen. Now, nothing is ever going to get in my way, I am strong and have finally begun to live.