Fear or Faith?

When you ride do you have a Fear basis or a Faith basis?

Now before you answer really think about the question.

" I'm not afraid of anything!" I have been heard to say.

That is not necessarily true.

I'm not afraid of spiders or flying monkeys, but I am afraid of something BAD happening.

Now we have to define the word BAD. Not bad- like naughty, but bad -like I've done something stupid and now something BAD, like dying, is going to happen. FYI- It hasn't happened to date.

And I'm not necessarily afraid of dying, but I am afraid of the pain that might go along with it. Actually I want to avoid PAIN altogether if possible. So I guess I am actually afraid of pain. But physical pain only- emotional pain I can handle, ask my girlfriends.

So when I ride, do I ride on a fear basis of avoiding pain?
To answer that , I would say that I try not to be afraid, but I'm aware of what's around me, to avoid the potential 'Pain Causing' factors. And sometimes that makes me overly cautious. So the answer is - yes, sometimes I ride with a FEAR basis.

But occassionally I get mad- really mad- and then all thoughts of pain and of dying fly right out of my head, and then I am riding on FAITH alone.

When you ride with Faith, you ride with the knowledge that you are good at what you are doing, that you know exactly how to get what you want done, and done right. When you ride with Faith, you are strong and confident, you can quiet that inner cautious voice and be 'in the moment'.

Have I ever gotten hurt while riding with Faith? No.
Have I ever gotten hurt while riding with Fear? No.

(I have usually gotten hurt while not paying attention!)

So what about it?
FEAR or FAITH ?