NFIB

Leading the War Against Fear
04/ 01/ 2002

by Harvey King

In these troubling times there are two books to which I turn for words of guidance and inspiration. One is a well-worn copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. By mid-morning, September 11, I had turned to page 648 in Bartlett's, on which is recorded the timeless challenge from Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 inaugural address: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Roosevelt was addressing a nation in the depths of economic depression and human despair. He saw clearly the greatest obstacle to recovery was the too often self-fulfilling failure of shaken faith. He knew the foundation of prosperity is optimism and confidence; belief and hope.

Within days of the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, President George W. Bush, in his inspiring address to Congress, echoed Roosevelt in his declaration that the country's current struggle is a war in which the forces of fear are pitted against the forces of freedom.

And with words that will surely be in the next edition of Bartlett's, President Bush inspired us with his promise that until freedom wins this war, "We will not tire, we will not falter, we will not fail."

The community of small business is one filled with champions of hope. Many know too personally the sting of failure. Yet they have risen above their fears and failure to survive troubling times.

These are the times that teach us anew that fear is an insidious cancer when it attacks an individual, a business or a national economy. Once we succumb to its cowering infection, fear leads us down a spiraling path.

And so, we must fight fear. Our courage and confidence should fly as high as the flags on our stores along Main Street.

Small businesses will be called on to lead our nation out of recession and despair. We will be responsible for reviving the country's job creation engine. We will be responsible for displaying confidence in the face of frustration and confusion.

As we have since the Revolutionary War, the owners and employees of small businesses will get the job done through perseverance and creative confidence.

Which leads me to the other book to which I turn for guidance.

The Bible is a constant reminder to me that my fears have been faced before. And overcome before. I am strengthened by my belief that we are not alone in this walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

That still today, there is a power that can comfort us even in our deepest fears.

In the war between freedom and fear, small business will choose the side of freedom.

And we will not tire. We will not falter. We will not fail.

Harvey King is the pen name of a real small business owner. You can write him in care of MyBusiness or at hking@mybusinessmag.com.

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This article originally appeared in the November/December 2001 issue of MyBusiness Magazine, NFIB's member magazine.

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