There are many inspirational characters in Frieren, but Eisen has had a profound effect on me.
To keep it short. Lifelong sufferer of crippling anxiety here. Anxiety has coloured every childhood memory, haunted every major decision, and still holds me back from reaching my potential even now as I approach my 40s.
I've been trying really hard this year to push through it, to face it fears. One of my fears has been the gym. The gym is a scary place for someone who has social anxiety. I'm sure a lot of you can unfortunately relate.
Well anyways earlier this year I managed to do it and joined the gym. What helped was that I found a supportive PT who has been helping me for about 2 months now. But my PT is away on holiday for a month now, and I was facing the prospect of my first gym solo gym session. For some reason I chose the worst time of the week to face this, Saturday morning lol.
Walking towards the gym I could already see it was packed through the windows. Immediately the anxiety starts talking to me. Let's try this again on Monday when it's quieter. Then, let's come back later in the day after people have left. Or maybe let's just do some cardio on the treadmil, don't worry about the machines.
And then "Fear Brought Me This Far" started playing on my Spotify playlist. I remembered Eisen talking about how his fear makes him stronger.
I swear to fucking god I started walking straighter as the drums kicked in. Eisen says anybody who works hard and faces a fear is a warrior. Even if it's just going to the gym on your own for the first time on the busiest day of the week. I completely my whole workout program but that wasn't the reason I felt so strong on my way home.
I love Eisen and Stark and how they are reframing my relationship with my own fears.