Facing your fear…
“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 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 judgment on him-no one can pass judgment on anyone, for each of us has to fight our own battles, and we can only truly understand the battles when are in the shoes of the battler.
However, what came 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 that it is neither. All I know 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 can 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-”Feel the fear and do it anyway?”
Today’s Affirmation: I accept fear as a calling to grow.
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October 29th, 2008 at 8:49 am
I needed to see this today. So easy to let fear take over our lives and not be able to move past that. I’m in that boat now so these were real words of wisdom for me today. Thank you!
Is there a way you can make these daily notes easy to print out? Maybe give us a print option which only has the daily message on it? I’d appreciate it and I bet others would too. Thanks for such uplifting words to start out days each day - you really have a calling and so many of us are glad you’re following it, Brook!
October 29th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Today’s message really resonated with me. I too face a difficult decision - do I leave the security of a well-paying job in California OR do I take a leap of faith that I will be able to find a job that we can survive on in Oregon? It’s been a long 2.5 years of commuting to visit my husband and home. I too have made my lists, carefully weighed my options, and ended up with “analysis paralysis” (I have done nothing.) Now I realize that I need to face my fear with faith - If God brought me to it, He’ll bring me through it!
October 29th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I have tears in my eyes! I realized last week how much I have let fear control my decisions over the past 2 years. I stood up to several of my fears, one by one, and got past. What a relief. As hard as it was, as much as my inner negative voice talked, no matter the obstacles, I still did it! I also realize that I have more to go and it will be one step at a time. Before last week, I had alot of resentment over what I “could have done” in the past couple years to better my situation and then felt even worse for not doing it. Now, I feel good knowing that it does not matter when I faced fear and took action, all that matters is that I did! I am still scared. I still have more to do, but each day is another step to the life I envision. Thank you Brook for all you do; your messages, classes, books and inspiration.
October 31st, 2008 at 5:36 am
Thanks for the comments ladies! You are all an inspiration and I love hearing how you apply and relate to these themes. Jamie–on printing the Good Morning if you subscribe via RSS then it comes to you as a plain text which would make it easy to print. Or you can print from your browser and reduce the size to fit on one page. Or… you can wait for an announcement coming up in about 5 days…. the first collection of 365 Good Mornings is being released Dec. 1 and I’ll be sending out a special offer for any Good Morning readers who would like an autographed copy!