FEAR
Fear! Just reading that word puts most people in a state of anxiety. Fear, it makes your palms sweat, your heart rise, and the tiny hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It is the four letter word that binds us all. It is the one thing that makes us human. It causes stress, it causes change, desire, movement, and many times success stories come out of fear. The word itself is nothing to run from. What you do in response of fear is what is important. Fear doesn’t have to be scary or debilitating! It can move you in directions that are wonderful, amazing, and life changing. Again it is determined by your reaction. Yes, there is that physical fear. Where the hairs on your neck stand up, and your instincts kick in telling you to run for your life. That is a different kind of fear from what I am referring to. That is a fear that works much like an instinct. Your body senses physical harm, like that of a stranger getting a little to close to your personal space or someone being threatening to you, which causes you to take the “flight or fight” response. The fear I want you to embrace is the fear of the unknown. We have all been there. As children, it was when the teacher called our name, to have our turn at the front of the classroom to read our speech. Those were some scary times. You get that lump in your throat, the racing heart rhythm, the shakiness in your knees. Seems kind of silly now though. It didn’t cause us any harm and every kid in the class had to do it. It’s also the fear of getting caught for doing something your parents told you not to do in the first place. You remember those times! I was told several times not to go play down the block at this HUGE sand hill, yet I managed to find myself there everyday after school. One day, my father found out and I was told to sit in the chair until he was ready to deliver the spanking that he had promised me. Now, that was fear. I sat there which seemed like hours waiting for the 5 slaps I knew would hurt and be humiliating, you know the ones that hurt your parents more than you. Yet that fear played it’s purpose in life too. It taught me discipline and respect. Respect for authority and the discipline to understand that I would have to pay a consequence for not listening to what I was told to do. Now it has a different meaning altogether than when I was a kid. Now, fear is what drives me to be the best person I can be. Fear is what pushes me to talk to that stranger about my business when they approach me. Fear is what guides me to motivate women on reaching their fitness goals. Fear is what gets me up in front of 15+ people in a group fitness class to encourage them to push out the reps that I ask of them. Finally, fear is what gets motivates me to rally up a huge group of individuals who are getting ready for a 3 mile walk for a charity. Fear is what keeps me working on my marriage and teaching my children lessons of good character at every opportunity that presents itself. You see, there is nothing to fear with the word Fear. It can motivate you to do things beyond your wildest dreams. When you want to accomplish goals in your life, no matter what they are, you use fear to reach them. Without it, you are just an ordinary individual looking for that quick fix to get you to your goals. Fear can teach you drive, determination, and even self confidence. The end result is self gratitude. Ah, how sweet it is. To know that in the face of fear, you kept going and conquered your quest! So what it is going to be? Will you embrace your fears?
