LIFE – INVOLVED or WATCHING?

I began the book, The Little Paris Bookshop:  A Novel, by Nina George, and quickly came across this passage:

I am about half way through the book, but my mind keeps going back to this quote.  The picture in my mind is of a person, shoulders drooping, head bent down, but their eyes are watching ---the eyes are watching others live.

The main character lost his true love.  She walked out of his life and then he received her letter…a letter he refused to read.  Instead, he “stayed in the background, a small figure in a painting, while life was played out in the foreground.”

And I want to shout at the man, “LIFE SUCKS SOMETIMES!  Read the letter instead of hiding it in a drawer.  For goodness sake, that unread letter might be hidden from your eyes, but it is a ball and chain keeping you from life.”

But then, the word “fear” entered the story.  Fear? 

“…for a chance to go back to the moment he’d decided not to read the letter. ……. Shame on you, Jean Perdu.  Shame on you for choosing fear. …. Never listen to fear!  Fear makes you stupid.”

Fear makes you miss adventures, joy, the wonders around you, love --- fear makes you miss life.  Fear makes you stay in the background.

AND THEN –

“It was as if he passed through a gate of fear and had realized to his surprise that behind it lay not a gaping chasm, but other doors, bright hallways and inviting rooms. 

Ah, now I see a person standing tall, head raised, and taking a step toward the bright hallways and inviting rooms.

“I’m scared!”  “Remember the feeling….it’ll be good to know how the fear feels and to go ahead and dance all the same.”

This leads to two questions:  Are you involved in life or watching from the background?  Is fear keeping you from life?