When Jon Snow first meets Samwell Tarly he is struck by how incapable and frightened the ‘fat boy’ is. Sam doesn’t fit in with the hardened brothers of the wall. He doesn’t care for hunting, cannot fight with a sword, and even proclaims himself a coward. But when Sam tells Jon that he doesn’t like high places, Jon can no longer keep his thoughts to himself. Jon asks in baffled frustration, “Are you afraid of everything?”
Jon doesn’t taunt Sam like the other brothers of the wall—but he does consider him a coward. But it is Jon’s friendship with Sam that eventually instigates a transformation in the cowardly boy.
The truth is that we all have a cowardly Sam Tarly inside of us. But we all also have a Jon Snow. We don’t have to let our inner Tarly take the lead. It is good to remember this the next time a news headline triggers you. It’s good to remember that most fears never come true. It’s good to remember this when you’re bombarded with messages from social media that are intentionally engineered to spark outrage and fear.
Nurture the inner coward. Or alternatively, just ask your inner Sam Tarly, “Are you afraid of everything?”
(If you don’t know who Jon Snow is, read this.)