There's only one thing left to do...
Fear is a liar.
Let’s be honest.
We’ve all felt fear.
The fear of losing.
The fear of failure.
The fear of getting hurt.
The fear of embarrassment.
The fear of an opponent.
Hockey is a savage sport.
If you’ve played long enough, you’ve gone up against monsters out there. Bigger players. Stronger players. Faster players. Meaner players. Tough players that genuinely scared you.
Trust me, I’ve gone up against some scary human beings on the ice.
It really hit me when I left UMass Lowell after my senior year and turned pro with the Binghamton Senators in the American Hockey League.
In college hockey, I was the captain. I was the leading scorer. I was known as one of the fiercest and most aggressive players on the ice.
Then I got to pro hockey and suddenly I realized something very quickly.
These weren’t boys anymore.
These were men.
Men fighting for NHL jobs. Men fighting bare knuckle. Men who had families depending on them. Men who had no fear of pain and no fear of violence.
As a rookie walking into that environment, I felt fear in a way I had never felt before in my life.
And the truth is, I let that fear consume me for a long time.
I felt ashamed that I was afraid of my opponents. Ashamed that I was afraid to really fight. Ashamed that fear even existed inside me at all.
But years later, when I really reflected on it, I realized something deeper.
It wasn’t just fear of fighting.
It was fear of truly going for my dream.
Fear of failure.
Fear of success.
Fear of what would happen if I actually became the player I was capable of becoming.
Those fears weren’t always conscious. A lot of the time they lived deep underneath the surface. And instead of confronting them, I covered them up with distractions. I became the life of the party off the ice instead of fully committing myself to the mission on the ice.
Looking back now in my 40s, I wish I could sit my younger self down and tell him this:
Face your fears now.
Look them directly in the eye.
Because hockey goes by unbelievably fast.
A decade passes in the blink of an eye. Seriously, think about the last ten years of your life and how quickly they disappeared. The older you get, the faster time moves. Hockey seasons fly by way too fast to spend them living in fear.
And here’s what I’ve learned.
Fear comes in many different forms.
Some players are afraid to fight.
Some are afraid to fail.
Some are afraid to succeed.
Some are afraid to stand out.
Some are afraid to fully commit themselves to the dream because then there’s no excuse left if it doesn’t work out.
But every fear has one thing in common.
Fear is a liar.
Fear lies to you and tells you to stay comfortable.
Fear lies to you and tells you to play small.
Fear lies to you and tells you that you’re safer not going all in.
Meanwhile, your destiny is sitting on the other side of that fear.
So today, make your stand.
Whatever fear is holding you back, address it.
Look at it directly and say:
“Fear is a liar.”
Then go forward on your quest.
Hunt down your destiny.
Be strong.
Be courageous.
And keep your knuckles up.
From,
Bobby Robins, savage motivator, NHL Alum, writer for Wraparound