Accidental Courage

Finding Out I'm a Bit Brave After All

Are you scared? Are you afraid of public speaking, heights, flying, change, or any number of inexplicable things?

You're not alone. The level of fear in this country has never been higher than it is right now. But it isn't run-through-the-streets-screaming fear. It's not terror. Rather, this new fear is quiet and relentless. It's 3:00-a.m. fear—a strange sound from who knows where, a shadow, a feeling, a dread that has you pinned to the bed, waiting, praying, wondering what's out there and whether you're next. It's as pervasive as night itself. It's the futile struggle against the unidentifiable that causes helplessness. Indeed, the majority of those with fear will never try to confront or conquer it. Instead, they'll make excuses and apologies, and just learn to live with it.

Joe Kita was like that. He was functional, successful, for all intents and purposes normal. But the older he got, the more he felt plagued by worries and fears and doubts, some of which he could barely admit to himself. He saw his future contracting instead of expanding. And he finally decided to do something about it. He gave himself one year and set out to face his 12 biggest fears—not from the safety of some psychiatrist's couch but out in the real world. His goal was to discover, once and for all, what he was so damn afraid of—the mother of all fears.

Here's a sampling of what he did: Drove a beat-up wreck in a demolition derby. Engaged in an airborne dogfight. Chased twisters in Tornado Alley. Served as a target for an aging knife thrower. Performed a stand-up-comedy routine before a raucous audience. Spent the night with Lizzie Borden. Went into solitary confinement at an abandoned prison.

From the fear of ghosts to the fear of death, from the fear of flying to the fear of being alone, from the fear of public speaking to the fear of car accidents and even the fear of God, Joe Kita faced it all. His is a journey of humiliation and heroism, of embarrassment and enlightenment, of absurdity and, ultimately, appreciation. It is a tale that is as full of wisdom as of wit, as profound as it is, at times, pathetic. You will be fascinated, and at the same time, you will find inspiration, laughter, and courage.