[at-l] Fear

[mfuller@somtel.com (Malcolm Fuller)]

Jim Owen wrote:

> Anyway, to move on here - I wouldn't want anyone to think that
> I'm telling them what to carry - or not.  What you carry is not
> my business.  My point is now and has always been - THINK about
> what you're carrying --- and why.

> If you're carrying something because you're (for example) afraid
> of the dark, or of being hungry, or of being cold, or uncomfortable,
> then you're probably carrying more weight than you need to.  But 
> it's still YOUR weight, for YOUR reasons, and no one (especially 
> me) has reason to complain as long as you're the one who's carrying
> it.

> What I AM suggesting is that you look at yourself in the mirror
> and admit your fears.  To yourself - cause it's nobody's business
> but yours.  And for most of us that's one of the hardest things 
> we'll ever do.  It's certainly harder than hiking the trail.  But 
> if you can actually admit to those fears, it also gives you the
> advantage of KNOWING why you're carrying that extra weight.  And,
> believe it or not, it makes the weight a little easier to carry.

<humph>

It appears to me that you hold great fear of not finishing
a hike. It obviously has a powerful grip on you. 

Two can play the fear game.

Perhaps what you're really advocating is that people honestly
and carefully judge VALUES, and check PERMISES. If so, I agree
with you a hundred percent, but characterizing one's minor
equipment choices as the product fear cheapens the word and
blurs the distinction in people's minds between genuine fear
and mere concern or personal preference.

-TXIIS