What Iron Maiden Taught Me About Courage

In 1982 I was lucky enough to get tickets to see Iron Maiden in concert at Sheffield City Hall. This was on the "Number Of The Beast" tour.

Any heavy metal fans out there will know that this album was a breakthrough for Iron Maiden, it marked the beginning of their zenith. Sheffield City Hall is an amazing venue. Put the time, the place and the act together and you had history in the making. And - the ticket only cost £6.50.

Just how good was it?

I was 13 years old. I had never been to a rock concert before. Rock fans were long haired big burly guys and I was spooked. The upshot is that I was afraid and I bailed.

I didn't go.

A year or so later I went to other concerts at Sheffield City Hall. Big name rock bands but nothing like Iron Maiden on their breakthrough. I came to realise that it wasn't so bad. Rock fans were friendly happy people and the image was just image. The moshing was frantic but good natured.

I learnt an important lesson.

I realise now that most things in life that you are afraid of aren't actually that bad.

"What's the worst that could happen?" is a useful question to ask yourself. Most of the time it's not that bad. We adapt. We move on.

The biggest obstacle that most of us have to face in life is our ourselves. It takes courage to face our fears, however trivial those fears may seem to others.

I've come to value courage. Courage is not something that comes easily to most of us. Courage is facing up to the small things in life that otherwise prevent us from doing the things we could be doing.

I secretly fear that I will be ridiculed for this post. But then, what's the worst that could happen?

Every time I hear "The Number of the Beast", I remind myself of all of the good things that happened after facing my fears.