Fearless: “I want to be defined not by my fears, but by the actions I take to overcome them.”

By Marcela Franco Rivera

What would you do if you weren't afraid? In this compilation of inspirational and personal essays which aim to answer that question, readers will find a space to reflect, set their own tone when it comes to thinking about fear, and explore the actions they would take and decisions they would make if fear never entered the equation.

The Fearless reader is a woman with big dreams—and big doubts. An overthinker, she fears her own vulnerability and wears a brave mask to help her get through the day. She thinks that putting her family first means that she comes second, and that hard work will compensate for a lack of self-love. She fears being who she wants to be. But what she doesn't know is that pretending to be brave makes her brave.

Inspired by the author's own journey to fearlessness, it aims to inspire anyone who has ever faced a fear to answer the question: "What would I do if I weren't afraid?"

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098306250

Book preview

©2020 All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Print ISBN 978-1-09830-624-3

eBook ISBN 978-1-09830-625-0

This book is dedicated to Tita. You are my truest inspiration.

You will never know how much I miss you.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

I Would Be the Best Version of Myself

I Would Forgive Myself

I Would Continue to Be Relevant

I Would Take Charge of My Life

I Would Stop Feeling Guilty

I Would Embrace My Impact

I Would Mourn Freely

I Would Start Saying No

I Would Live Honoring Naked Happiness

About the author

Acknowledgements

To the following fearless women around the world—Dani, Fernanda, Mariana, Clau, Geral, Clarissa, Ale: thank you, thank you, thank you.

To Jenn: Thank you is an understatement.

To Claudi: thank you for your unconditional love. Gian, you mean everything to me.

To my grandpa: I love you, I miss you, I know you understand.

To my parents: thank you for your love and support.

And finally, thank you to the love of my life, a fearless man who understands me completely.

Preface

Fearless is a compilation of inspirational, personal answers to the question What would I do if I were not afraid? The answers are written in the form of essays. Fearless aims to give the reader a space to reflect, to set the tone to think about fear and the actions and decisions one would take without fear in the equation. But most importantly, it aims to inspire you to come up with your own answers to this compelling question.

I started to write Fearless back in 2017; the essays were written over a span of three years.

Fearless seeks to inspire—nothing more.

Thank you for reading me,

M.

Introduction

I am sitting on a plane, staring down at my white Converse sneakers and thinking, Guess this is my fourth or fifth attempt to start writing a book. My navy notebook has so many scribbles and half-finished poems that I wish I had a fresh one.

A new attempt deserves a new notebook and probably a new fancy pen as well. I consciously silence my mind from all the random thoughts and get to it. I am on my way to Mexico City, which has become my new temporary home. My name is irrelevant to the story, but who I am is not.

I am a 26-year-old woman, trying to make it in the shipping and logistics corporate world. If someone asked me if I had my life together, my answer would probably be: mostly together, but for the past few years, I have not been able to shake the feeling that pieces of me are missing, since all the people I love are spread over many countries. Today, all my family lives in the country I was born in, and my boyfriend lives in the second country I called home (different from where I live and different from where my family lives).

In Mexico, I have friends I consider family, but honestly—it isn’t enough, and every time I say this to myself, I might as well just jump headfirst in front of the most profound, guilt-ridden train. Being completely honest, I cannot recall the last time I felt genuinely happy. For the past four years, I have lived my life missing people. It might sound selfish and ungrateful, but it is the truth—my truth.

Today I boarded what feels like my hundredth flight in the past year. After being dropped off at the airport by my boyfriend and doing all the usual security checks, I went straight to the airport chapel