Protect Yourself from the Fear of Life
Someone learning to live with courage.
There’s a quiet fear that lives inside many of us. Not the kind that screams or slams doors. Not the obvious panic that makes your chest pound or your legs tremble. This fear is quieter. Softer. It whispers.
What if I fail?
What if I’m not enough?
What if I try and still lose?
What if life… doesn’t get better?
Kacy Jully knew that fear well.
She was the kind of person who always had a plan. A notebook filled with goals. A calendar packed with tasks. On the outside, it looked like she had it together. But inside? She was afraid. Afraid of disappointing people. Afraid of making the wrong choices. Afraid of being left behind in a world that seemed to move faster every day.
She protected herself the only way she knew how …by playing it safe.
She didn’t take the risk. Didn’t ask the question. Didn’t send the email. Didn’t chase the dream. She kept her life small because small felt safe. Predictable. Controlled.
But it also felt empty.
And one day, she cracked.
It wasn’t dramatic. No storm or shouting. Just a quiet collapse on a random Tuesday night. She sat on her floor, surrounded by her perfect planners and half-lived dreams, and whispered, “I’m so tired of being afraid.”
That night, something inside her shifted. Not in a cinematic, lightning-strikes-the-soul kind of way. It was subtle. Gentle. Like a door creaking open in the back of her mind. A thought: What if fear isn’t here to destroy me? What if it’s here to teach me?
The next morning, something even more unexpected happened. While standing in line at a coffee shop, Kacy Jully overheard a little boy tugging at his father’s coat.
“What if I fall off the swing tomorrow?” he asked.
The father smiled and replied, “Then you’ll know how to land better next time.”
It hit her.
Falling wasn’t the enemy. Fear wasn’t the villain. The real danger was letting fear write her story.
So Kacy Jully started to change.
Not all at once. There was no dramatic reinvention, no viral self-transformation. Just small choices. Honest choices. Loving ones.
She began protecting herself — not from life, but from the fear of it.
She unfollowed the accounts that made her feel inadequate. Not because they were bad, but because her heart deserved peace.
She said no to invitations that didn’t feel right, even when it disappointed people.
She allowed herself to rest without earning it.
She cried without apologizing. She laughed without waiting for permission. She danced alone in her room at 1 a.m. because the music made her feel alive.
She stopped trying to be fearless. That wasn’t the goal anymore.
Instead, she let fear sit beside her on the ride, but she never let it take the wheel again.
The fear didn’t disappear. Some mornings, it still greeted her before her feet touched the floor. But now, she responded with something new:
“Oh, it’s you again? Alright. Come on. We’ve got a life to live.”
She started writing again. Sharing again. Trying again. Not because she was sure she’d succeed — but because the possibility of joy was finally louder than the fear of failure.
And little by little, Kacy Jully built a new kind of protection. Not the kind that builds walls around your heart .... but the kind that builds a home inside yourself. A safe place to fall. A soft place to land. A resilient place to rise from.
That’s how you protect yourself from the fear of life.
Not by running from it.
But by choosing to live, in spite of it.
By showing up messy, uncertain, scared .... and still reaching for something beautiful.
So if you're reading this with a familiar knot in your stomach, if you're tired of walking through life with fear shadowing your every move — let this be your reminder:
You are allowed to be afraid.
But you are also allowed to live fully.
Start small. Breathe. Unclench. Say yes to something new. Say no to what drains you. Laugh when it feels right. Cry when it doesn’t.
You don’t need to be perfect.
You just need to be brave ... in your own way.
Protect yourself, not by hiding from the world, but by showing up in it as your whole, scared, strong, wonderful self.
Because you were never meant to live afraid.
You were meant to live free.
About the Creator
Chisty
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