Don’t Let Fear Get to You
Over the course of the past several weeks I feel like I have been hit with the same kind of advice coming at me from so many different directions: fear is not a reason to say no.
Admittedly, I didn’t think much of it initially. I was reading a book that said pretty much word for word that of all the reasons not to try, fear is not one. Well, that’s great advice. I wasn’t denying it, but I thought it was just a nice sentiment some author had a character say in a book. But then it came up again a couple chapters later, and then it came up in a show I’m watching, and by now I feel like God is really trying to tell me something.
I even just realized that the song I am currently listening to while writing this has a similar message.
I get it now – I think? – but that doesn’t make facing something that scares you any easier. I know in my head that fear is actually a good instinct that sometimes can spur you to action when you’re in danger. But I also know in my heart that the only reason that explanation even pops into my head is because I’m trying to come up with an excuse.
There are a lot of opportunities or things in my life that have come up lately that scare me a little bit. Some involve personal or entrepreneurial goals that give me pause and make me nervous, but others involve other people and the prospect of putting myself out there into a world that can oftentimes be so, very cruel. But, I am feeling encouraged by my random (or perhaps more truthfully, ordained) stumblings across YouTube videos about seeking discomfort and running headlong into things that scare you.
So, while this blog post is all about fear, it is also about hope. It’s about possibility and about how things could go shockingly well if you would only give them a try. It’s about not letting fear get the best of you (or me…this is also a pep talk for myself here.)
I am choosing in this moment to heed the signs that keep being placed right in front of me and head into what scares me rather than steering around it, and I hope you – whoever is reading this – take this to heart, too.
After all, we’re all scared, but we just shouldn’t let it get to us.