Love for Your Future
Courage is how I make my future possible. Every future I have ever wanted came from taking a risk, expanding my comfort zone, or doing something that terrified me. For years, I told myself that caring for my future meant avoiding risk, holding onto certainty, and planning away every mistake. But trying to hold onto total certainty is like holding water in your hands: the tighter you squeeze, the faster it leaks away.
Courage is not about feeling brave. It is about doing things that make you feel scared. When courage became my identity, I stopped taking risks and hid behind what felt safe. When I allowed myself to do something that made me feel afraid, I opened myself up to becoming genuinely braver.
Erik Thor, Why I Care
What Regret Taught Me
The trip I didn’t take
When I was seventeen, my high school class went on a three-week trip to India. The thought of flying that far from home frightened me to the bone. Because I was active in the Green Party, I convinced myself that flying was bad for the climate—using a moral principle as an excuse to hide my terror. Hearing my classmates share their stories when they returned filled me with deep regret. Fear gave me an excuse, but it took away an experience of a lifetime.
Fear is temporary, regret isn’t
At amusement parks, I would stare up at roller coasters with loops and zero gravity, convinced they would kill me. I watched my friends have the time of their lives while I kept my feet on the ground. One day, I finally got on. The moment the ride started, my brain ran out of excuses and simply let me enjoy the rush. The fear lasted two minutes; the pride stayed with me.
The Mask of the Brave Hero
For a long time, I felt an intense pressure to act brave for other people.
As a young political leader, I saw myself as a warrior on the barricades—someone who fought for what was right without thought of consequences. I put on a mask of confidence because I never wanted others to worry about me.
By putting on a mask of courage, I prevented myself from doing what was actually brave. When courage becomes a performance, you avoid anything that could make you look hesitant or vulnerable, pouring yourself only into safe roles where you already excel.
Doing scary things makes you feel less confident in the moment, because risk brings real fear. When you do what is easy, people think you are strong. But real courage only begins when you step into the unfamiliar and let yourself be seen as a beginner.
“What settled the argument for me was regret. The things I regret in life are not the risks I took. They are the risks I didn’t take.”
Micro-test quiz with 10 questions
Love For Your Future Match
Check off statements above to calculate your match score.
Practical Future Inquiry
Reflect on the difference between performing bravery and practicing real courage:
- Where do you act tough or capable to hide your inner hesitation?
- What is a ‘safe’ role you excel at that keeps you from taking real creative or personal risks?
- What is one decision you made out of fear that you still think about?
Reflection & Practice
Facing What Scares You
What is one opportunity, conversation, or creative step you have been avoiding because you cannot predict how it will turn out? What is the smallest step you could take toward it today, while you are still afraid?
Continue Your Journey
Take the Eight Forms of Love Test
See how your courage for your future balances with your care for your present life and relationships across 48 reflective questions.
Explore the Book: Why I Care
Read the full story of overcoming fear, getting on the roller coaster, and building a meaningful future.
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