i feared until ...

Another of those mails that I got as a forward. The problem with such forwards is that, they end up becoming chain-mails and its value is lost because people are only interested in sending them to everyone they know, but not reading it themselves and sending it to a select few. Also, such mails have huge images which makes it bulky and so the tendency to delete them is higher. Anyways, I don't know the writer of this piece but I have removed the formatting, made some changes in the verses to make it sound better. Here it goes:

I feared being alone
Until I learned to like myself.
I feared failure
Until I realized that I only fail when I don't try.
I feared success
Until I realized that I had to try in order to be happy with myself.

I feared people's opinions
Until I learned that people would have opinions about me anyway.
I feared rejection
Until I learned to have faith in myself.
I feared pain
Until I learned that it's necessary for growth.

I feared the truth
Until I saw the ugliness in lies.
I feared life
Until I experienced its beauty .
I feared death
Until I realized that it's not an end, but a beginning.

I feared my destiny,
Until I realized that I had the power to change my life.
I feared hate
Until I saw that it was nothing more than ignorance.
I feared love
Until it touched my heart, making the darkness fade into endless sunny days.

I feared ridicule
Until I learned how to laugh at myself.
I feared growing old
Until I realized that I gained wisdom every day.
I feared the future
Until I realized that Life just kept getting better.
I feared the past
Until I realized that it could no longer hurt me.

I feared darkness
Until I saw the beauty of the starlight.
I feared the light
Until I learned that the Truth would give me Strength.
I feared change
Until I saw that a moth becomes a butterfly only after metamorphosis.