“You gain
strength, courage, and confidence by every
experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing
which you think you
cannot do.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Good
Morning!
This past week I
saw a dear friend confront a deep-rooted
fear with excuses. He was faced with
making a very big life decision. He had
already made his decision, committed to it, and committed to many other
people
as well – all that was left was “to dot his I’s and cross his T’s.”
The change he was challenging himself to make
wasn’t one done on a whim. He had spent
many months preparing and talking with others to make sure it was for
the
best. Yet the final steps to make this
change would require him to come face-to-face with a deep-rooted fear
he had
held since childhood. He would have to
look that fear in the eye and take the last step to move past it.
In the final moment, he looked his fear in
the eye and, instead of stepping past it, he stepped backward and let
the fear
live. He then created a list of reasons
as to why his decision made sense. Yet
he knew, and all of us who were aware of it, knew, in our hearts, that
these
were just excuses – what had happened in reality was that his fear had
won.
I am not passing
judgement on him – no one can pass judgement
on anyone, for each of us has to fight our own battles, and we can only
truly
understand the battles when we are in the shoes of the battler.
However, what
became abundantly clear to me after watching
this struggle play out in his life, was how often I have seen people
within a
similar struggle: seeking truth, finding
it, and then letting fear take it away.
Is that right or wrong? I believe
it is neither. All I know is this – if we do not
change, we will not get
different results than we already have.
If your life is full and rich and helping others and mattering – then
perhaps
continuing to walk down the same road is the best course. But
if your life is less than its potential,
if you have backed down when you might have risen up, if you have
chosen safety
over risk, if a voice inside you cannot be quieted – perhaps it is time
to look
fear in the eye…and move past it.
I believe that
we can only overcome fear when we embrace
it. We acknowledge
we are scared and
terrified, but we look at the situation from all angles, make the best
decision
we can, and then we take a deep breath and go forward.
Your Turn: When in
your life have you faced fear and overcome it?
What was the result?
When have
you faced fear and stepped backward?
What was the result? Is there any area in your
life now where you need
to – as Susan Jeffers says in her book title – “Feel the fear and do it
anyway?”
Today’s Affirmation:
I
accept fear as a calling to grow.
