“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 you think you cannot do.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Do you want to live in strength, courage and confidence? Are you willing to seriously face and overcome your FEAR to get it? FEAR stands for False Expectations Appearing Real. Think about all the things you’ve been afraid of. How many of them have come about?
According to statisticians more than 90% of what we are afraid of never come to pass. So why then do we surrender our peace of mind to something that’s highly unlikely to ever happen? While we all have something we’re afraid of, the problem is when FEAR becomes a controlling factor in our lives.
Some fears are helpful in that they keep us alive. Fear keeps us from forgetting our wedding anniversary, bringing an electric radio into the shower, or from running into the middle of a busy freeway. These fears protect us from harm.
Unfortunately, in the course of living, unpleasant experiences and memories, things said to us by family and friends, the media and movies begin reprogramming our fear mechanism. The reprogramming changes our fear to FEAR becoming afraid of things we shouldn’t. This FEAR is a dream killer and life stealer – it hinders us from obtaining the things we truly want in life. The cure for FEAR?
Do the thing you think you cannot do. You have to be intentional about doing the things that scare you. What is the thing you think you cannot do? Forgive? Be vulnerable? Lose weight? Be transparent? Love unconditionally? Does your fear of rejection or failure paralyze you from moving forward with your dreams and desires? Do it despite the fear.
Visualize yourself forgiving the unforgivable or being vulnerable with your wife. Whatever it is you feel you cannot do, see yourself successfully accomplishing it with your fear and all. Playing it safe is a decision to remain stagnant and be unhappy. When you take the risk and press through your fears, you grow as a person and expand your possibilities. Make a commitment today to doing the thing you think you cannot do.
