Fear is a funny thing…

I’m a firm believer that Fear is what holds us back from reaching out truest potential… stops us from taking risks… prevents us from trying new ways of doing things.

Sometimes fear is good of course… but more often than not, it can go to an extreme.

I can remember when the boy children were younger… absolutely no fear at ALL when riding their bikes… until the day the eldest broke his arm.  My dad was showing him a new trick for dismounting… one that I still to this day can’t do but don’t get me started on how my parents have changed since becoming grandparents… that’s a whole ‘nother post… Anywho, the eldest forgot to slow down before the one-legged dismount… can’t run as fast as he was riding… so the next thing I know, I get the call to meet them at the hospital.  Good times.

Now, here’s where the funny part happens… The eldest?  jumps right back into riding his bike like NOTHING HAPPENED… the youngest however, wouldn’t go near a bike for almost 2 years.

Crazy huh?  We don’t even have to have scary stuff happen to us for us to develop a fear that is so strong it leaves us frozen.  Kinda like deer…

The deer in our neighborhood don’t even blink when a very large beastly SUV comes barrelling down the road at 25 mph (that’s the speed limit in my neighborhood) but roll down the window to take a picture and suddenly they scatter like I aimed a rifle at them…

My point is that we don’t always have a rational understanding of what fills us with fear.  Sometimes, there are those fears that are pretty darn obvious… Spiders, snakes, etc…

but then there are those fears that take a little time to really understand… fear of rejection… fear of losing control… fear of abandonment… These are very real and can stop us in our tracks before we realize our true potential…

I’ve been thinking about what goals I’ll be setting for 2013… (yeah, planning ahead for once) and at the same time hearing the negative voice in my head that reminds me of the fears that I’ve often allowed to hold me back.

What would you do if you had no fear?

What fears have you faced and overcome?