DO NOT FEAR WHAT YOU TRULY DO NOT KNOW
Today is My Birthday ~ I Am Now 43!
I can’t help but reflect on how fast the last ten years have flown by.
So many things have come and gone—the anxieties, the reactions, the worry, the restlessness... the feeling that if I could just , everything might settle.
And yet, life simply keeps going. Even the hardest things—the ones that brought me to my knees—have taught me so much.
The good moments—the laughter, the snuggles, the road trips, the meals shared—have all blended into one warm heart inside me.
As I step into this next year, what rises most is a quiet curiosity about where I hope to be at 53.
I’ve never before had the luxury of looking so far ahead. But now I do.
In ten years, my children will be older, and so will I.
And so I ask myself: What do I want for them, for my wife, for myself?
One thing I know: I want to keep doing the work.
The more I grow, the more I can lead by example.
I want my family to see a man committed to inner work—not perfect, but persistent.
I want them to witness my mistakes, my risks, my willingness to try again.
I didn’t grow up with that. My parents struggled with depression, and I had to mentally grow up far too soon.
But this chapter—this beautiful, humbling chapter—is about rewriting what’s possible.
DO NOT FEAR WHAT YOU TRULY DO NOT KNOW
The fear we feel deep within us is not imaginary—it’s real. And it’s our work.
The unknown isn’t a void to be avoided—it’s where we’re meant to walk.
Most adults are paralyzed by the belief that we’re not allowed to make mistakes.
But we are. And we must.
Mistakes are not the end—they’re part of the path forward.
Shame doesn’t have to be an anchor.
It can be a signal—a call to transformation. A chrysalis. A metamorphosis.
So on this birthday, I offer you a question:
Can you name three things you’ve been struggling to release?
And can you meet them not with judgment, but with curiosity?
What are they trying to teach you—through all the muck, the ego, and the discomfort?
Join me in celebrating not just what has been, but all that has yet to come.
There is so much we do not know—
and that is where the magic lives.
With Love,
Matthew Schildkret
Founder, Creator, & Humble Guide
Late Sunday Afternoon
