Colombia - January 2021, deal with your fears

I landed the 7th in Bogota, the first message that came to my phone was from Nico "hay toque de queda hasta el martes" in other words: we cannot go out of home till Tuesday cause tons are dying.

I was like "shit, my trip!". Luckily, he and his girlfriend picked me up at the airport and took me to Chía where they and Nico's dad lived, including "Chapeta" their crazy cat (she shows affection biting, imagine it! I'm still not sure if she loved or hated me).

If you investigate a bit, will find out, I made that trip during covid, when vaccination didn't existed and many people were dying. So, why I travelled in those conditions?, well, I was getting crazy locked down at home in my country. I love visit my family and by then, my grandparents were really vulnerable to got covid and the pressure of family making sure then won't got it from me was present day and night. That leaded me think that in another country I wouldn't have that issue.

Surprise! In Medellin nobody used masks and I realized was afraid of covid too.

"Why are you wearing that, they will think you think they have covid! Will be offended, remove it when you talk with them! - Diego (a friend of mine in Medellin)

Yes, I removed it, while every possible national channel showed hospitals collapsing. Cause if you talked to one single person in Medellin you were practically talking with someone potentially infected in a party (not authorized) of more than 50 persons at a time drinking, dancing, kissing. etc in a house, without mask of course. People walked through doors wearing it under the nose in public spaces to just took it off to say hi whenever another human gets close to them. In my second day there I ended up in one of those parties too, didn't planned but happened. Laying in a couch with 15 unknown persons I realized made non sense avoid the inevitable: social people needs interaction with the rest of society. I'm social, and according to my otorhinolaryngologist, if covid didn't kill me, anxiety that lockdown produced me would have.

That experience brought me lessons, first: keep your lungs healthy. Second: if something has to happen, will just happen, doesn't matter if you have fear or not.

So learn to deal with it.

Deal with fear is a decision, not a thing of personality, money, opportunity, context, etc. We all have fears, to different things and in different amounts for sure, but fear is fear here in Kansas where I'm writing this, in India were one of my best friends lives, in Guatemala where I was born and everywhere.

Everywhere we will be always able to find an excuse to do not face and work on it, doesn't matter how good or bad be the excuse is, it is what it is, an excuse. So excuse me, life is too short for excuses.

I have no idea if you have ever faced dead, hope not, but if you have...

C'mon, fear? Take it out of your excuses to do not do what you want to. Make it your friend, your loyal coach or that one final push, do whatever you want to with, but deal with it cause won't leave you.

Will change it's face, shape, time, etc. but will be breathing in your neck, so smile :)

Sounds super easy, is not.

Won't pretend to give a checklist to work on. My objective with this is just make you think about what are you doing to work on those fears you have, and if the answer is nothing or not much yet, change it!

I repeat: Deal with fear is a decision. So make yours and go for!

In case you decide to make nothing to deal with it, well, it's okay too, but just for fun *also cause is true, will present this...

Fear won't leave you. Will change it's face, shape, time, etc. but will be breathing in your neck, so be ready to... cry, suffer...?