The Tenderness of Wolves

I was in Atlanta this week attending a design conference, and I actually had the chance to do some reading. I finished a book by Stef Penny that was striking. Today, I looked on line for some insights into the book and found a short video. Ms. Penny explained that the wolves symbolized our fears. While I really hate to admit that I am afraid of anything - there are so many areas in my life that are colored by fears, big and small. These places that I/we avoid can become comfortable after we inhabit them for a time. How easy it is to let these fears direct the course of our lives, and, how different our lives might be if we marched boldy into them - in spite of the fright. I read an article years and years ago, perhaps as long as 20 or 25 years, in Guideposts magazine that has stayed with me ever since. The short story portrayed a woman trying to escape a burning building down the fire stairs. Her fear paralized her to the point that she froze and couldn't move. A man behind her screamed at her to move forward and she replied "I can't. I'm scared." And his response has moved me through life over and over ever since. "Do it scared!"