A short YouTube reflection by Brian Johnson about his children’s first day at a nature school near Austin. Brian recounts his son Emerson’s shift from nervousness to confidence—attributed to repetition—and shares a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote urging people to do what they fear, framing fear as a boundary to growth and a daily practice to overcome it.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. I'm typing this after helping mom get the kids off for the first day of school. Although we homeschool Emerson and Eleanor, they go to a nature school outside of Austin once or twice a week. Today was day one, number five. Hard to believe we've already been here in Austin for five years. Time truly flies now. The kids were excited this morning, especially Emerson. While buzzing around the kitchen, he just said, I can't believe I used to be nervous about going to school. It's true. When he was younger, the first day and the second day and the third day of the little nature class he'd go to in Ojai wasn't preceded by moments of excitement, if you know what I mean. A lot of screaming. So I asked him, why do you think you're no longer nervous? And he said, because I've done it a lot of times. To which I said, exactly. Then, of course, I had to throw in some wisdom from his namesake. So I said, you know what Ralph Waldo once had to say about that? He said, always, always, always, always do what you were afraid to do and do the thing you fear. And the death of fear is certain. And that's today's plus one. The next time we feel that little niggle of nerves before we do something, seriously, the very next time you feel it, let's remember the fact that our infinite potential exists just outside of our comfort zone. And by definition, that feels uncomfortable. Then let's smile, say, bring it on, and go do the thing we're afraid to do. Repeat all day, every day, especially today.
