Conquering Fear

Once upon a time, there lived a boy who was extremely shy and fearful of the world around him, that his family and friends called him “Miobe” – the frightened one. All his friends made fun of him and his fearful nature.

Miobe hated it when his friends made fun of him. So, one fine day, he decided that he will have to conquer fear, so that his friends would stop making fund o him. That night when everyone was fast asleep, he packed his bag and set off into the world to understand fear and to conquer it.

That night, was the first night that he was alone and away from everyone he loved and trusted. He had no home and no one to take care of him. He slept under the big blue sky and stared up at a sky full of stars. Before falling asleep, he whispered to himself, “I seek to understand and conquer you – fear!”

He fell asleep wrapped in his blanket. Around midnight the wolves began to howl. He heard all the wonderful nocturnal voices that one hears in the open. The sounds woke him. He was so afraid that he wanted to run away. However, he remembered that he had walked out of his home to conquer fear. And also realised that what he was feeling right then and there was nothing but fear. So, instead of running away, Miobe decided to walk toward the sound of the wolves howling, all the while muttering, “I will conquer you fear.”

He walked until the sun came up and when he saw the sky transform from being black to its golden orb, he smiled with relief, for he had survived his first night alone. More importantly, he did not give in to his fear. “I am becoming brave,” he said as he walked on.

Soon he came to a village, and for a moment he thought, “I don’t know these people at all. They might be unkind to a stranger and lock me up.”

As soon as he thought that, he realised that the ugly head of fear was coming up. But he straightened up and walked right into the village, saying aloud, “I will conquer you, fear.”

He walked into the village square, and saw village elders gathered together and looking worried. As Miobe came near, they all looked up and sneered, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“I’m traveling the world to conquer fear and become brave,” Miobe answered.

The elders laughed. “Fool! No one can find bravery where it does not exist.”

“What do you mean?” Miobe asked.

The elders sighed unhappily. “We are finished,” said one old man. “Our village is being threatened by a monster up on the mountain. And we don’t have anyone who has the courage to go and fight the monster and save us.”

Miobe followed the old man’s gaze to the top of the mountain.

“See him, there,” the old man said.

Miobe squinted. He did not want to insult the man, but he saw nothing there.

“Look,” said another man. “See? It has the head of a crocodile. A monstrous crocodile!”

“And his body is as horrible as a hippopotamus. A gigantic hippopotamus!”

“It’s like a dragon!” another man cried, “with fire shooting from its snout!”

With all these descriptions, now Miobe began to see the monster. He began to see the smoke and fire, the wrinkled skin, the fiery eyes. “I see,” he said, but silently he promised himself he would not be afraid. So he walked away from the elders, into the village.

Everywhere people cowered. The little children hid inside, refusing to go to school. “If the children go outside,” the women said, “the monster will come down from the mountain and eat them. Everyone knows monsters eat children.”

The farmers hovered inside their doorways, hoes and rakes in hand; outside their horses stood unharnessed. “We cannot work,” they told Miobe. “If we go into the fields, the monster will come down and get us.”

Miobe saw wandering goats, sheep and cows out at the edge of the village, but no one came to milk the animals or tend to them. No one planted crops. Few left their homes, preferring to hide indoors.

“The monster is as big as 10 barges!” they whispered among themselves as Miobe listened. “The monster is going to destroy us!”

Finally, Miobe felt the fear of the monster creeping up his spine. He decided that this is as good an opportunity to fight his fear and be courageous. So, he took it upon himself to go and face the monster and if possible, to destroy it.

“I wish to conquer fear,” he announced, “and so I shall go and fight the monster!”

“No, son, don’t do it!” the elders cried. Mothers gathered to try to shield the young man from harm. Fathers shook their heads and warned, “You will die.”

Miobe shivered and his heart fluttered, but he was determined. “I must conquer fear!” he said, and set off toward the mountain.

At the base of the mountain, he looked up and felt a chill of fear run down his spine. That monster looked even bigger and fiercer than any dragon, fiercer than a whole pack of wolves or a nest of snakes. He remembered the days when he had been afraid. He resolved not to give in to that fear. He took a deep breath and began to climb.

As he climbed, he looked up, but now he saw the monster seemed to be growing smaller.

“How peculiar,” he said aloud. “My eyes are deceiving me.”

He continued to climb.

When he was halfway up, he looked again. He squinted, shielding his eyes, but the monster’s eyes no longer seemed so fierce, and the flames no longer shot from its snout.

“The closer I get, the smaller he looks,” Miobe thought puzzlingly. He continued to climb, though now he pulled his dagger from his sack so that he would be prepared to fight the monster.

As he came around a bend in the path, he saw the summit before him. He gasped. The monster had disappeared.

Miobe turned and looked behind him. Surely the creature was going to sneak up from behind to attack. But when he turned, he saw nothing. He heard nothing. He held his breath. He looked left. He looked right.

He continued to climb.

At long last he reached the summit and all was empty and quiet. Nothing was there.

Suddenly he heard a sound at his feet. He looked down and saw a little creature, just like a toad with wrinkled skin and round, frightened eyes.

He bent down and picked it up. “Who are you?” he asked. “How did you become so small?” But the monster said nothing, and so he cradled it in his hand and walked down the mountain.

When he reached the village, the people cried, “He’s safe!” and they surrounded him.

Miobe held out his hand and showed them the tiny wrinkled toad. “This is the monster,” he said.

“What is your name?” asked the elder. The creature croaked, and the elder looked up at the crowd and said, “Miobe has brought us the monster. Its name is fear.”

Miobe continued on his journey to explore the world and conquer fear!!!

Lessons I learn from this Ethiopian folk tale:

1. The only way to conquer fear is to face it head-on. And facing our fears is the only way forward.
2. Things are never as bad as we fear them to be. We imagine our monsters to be much more terrifying than they really are. We give them the power they hold on us.
3. All of us have a Miobe lurking within us. We just need to bring him out and allow him to lead us.

In conclusion: 

Every startup founder and everyone working on an innovation is like Miobe. They are venturing out on the mountain and have to face and conquer their fears (could be fear of failing, ridicule and shame). 

Every entrepreneur is a Miobe who is constantly struggling with her fear and facing it to conquer it. 

One of the things that i am most afraid of is drowning. The fear of drowning is so strong in me that i can’t even walk into a swimming pool (4’6″ deep), which is lesser than my height.

I have decided to awake the Miobe within me and lead me to face and conquer this fear. This year (2019) is when I I want to spend as much time as possible in water, learn to swim and conquer the fear of drowning. 

What fear will you conquer in 2019?

This post was first published on my blog "Musings of a salesman" and has been republished here.