March 19, 2024

Being fearless is the key to success

Being fearless is an aspect of all of our lives. We all have fears, but there are areas we all just let it fly.

If you look fearless up in a dictionary, you will read “lacking fear.” I have a different definition for the word — willingness to do what you want, putting fear out of your mind and following your passion.

We see it every day in sporting events. A great shooter cannot think about the 10 shots he or she just missed. They keep shooting. An offensive lineman has to be ready to make the block to open a hole for a running back or keep a defender away from the quarterback even if he gave up a tackle-for-loss the play before.

What about a baseball player standing at the plate facing a pitcher, who has struck him out countless times. The batter has to be fearless and vice versa for the pitcher.

Being fearless is about confidence in yourself and teammates. It’s about passion. If you are confident in what you do in athletic competition or in life, you will succeed. If you are passionate in your endeavors, you will succeed.

Success is not just about wins and losses. We are a society that puts such emphasis on winning — winning at all costs. Winning is fun, losing is not. That is a given. Knowing how to work through the adversities in an athletic competition helps provide a foundation of how to find a way to do the same in life situations away from athletics.

As a writer, I face a fear every time I begin a new story. Facing a blank piece of white paper, or in this day and age, a blank white computer screen is daunting. How do I start this one so it doesn’t read like every other story I’ve written in my lifetime as a sports journalist? How do I tell readers the story so they really know what happened out there? How do I do justice to those who competed — win or lose?

I know my parents faced fears every day raising five children. They had to be fearless when we lost my little brother because they knew they had four other children who needed them to be confident and passionate about life’s promises in the face of death. There are no givens to any of us.

A question came across my screen in one of those endless Facebook posts we all see — If you could have any job/career, which would you choose? My response was to be a trumpet player for a big band or orchestra. When I was younger, I thought I was fearless when it came to playing the trumpet. Music was, and probably still is, my one true passion. I’ve loved trumpet music all my life and never hesitated when asked which instrument I wanted to learn to play.

Doubt in my abilities to follow the musical dream held me back. I moved to my next passion— writing, sports writing specifically. I’m doing what I was meant to do, I believe. I’m confident in my abilities, most of the time. I still have to remind myself to be fearless.

I’ve covered countless young people in sports in my 37-year professional career. Not many of them went on to be professional athletes. Some competed at the college level and were successful.

Their true success lies in their productive lives as ordinary people being fearless in their chosen profession and family life.

To all the area youth competing and dreaming of what might be in athletics for them, dream and work hard for your dreams if it is what you are passionate about. Be confident in yourself and don’t allow a bad shot, a missed block or a bad handoff hold you back. Be fearless.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets
at jsheets@newtondailynews.com