I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back....

Jong frames fear not as a defect to be eliminated but as a permanent companion—especially when one is changing, growing, or taking risks. The quote distinguishes between the body’s alarm (“pounding in the heart”) and the self’s capacity to choose action anyway. Its emphasis is on courage as persistence in the presence of fear, rather than fearlessness. Read this way, the line becomes a compact manifesto for creative and personal autonomy: the instinct to retreat is acknowledged, even honored, but it is not allowed to dictate the outcome. The ellipses reinforce the felt pauses of hesitation that precede decisive forward motion.