How to Overcome Fear

I am teetering on the precipice of the great unknown. My intense desire to begin this journey into cyberspace is met with doubt; make that many doubts. I feel like the small child who desperately wants to jump off the high-dive for the first time and has climbed the steps with great excitement and anticipation. But upon reaching the top and looking around, feels the fear creep – no rush – in to steal the joy and send it spiraling down to the concrete below, smashing it into a million pieces.

Don't listen to the voice of doubt, jump right in to overcome fear.

The child stands at the top of the ladder and looks toward the end of the diving board. Voices battle inside her head: the one which urges her forward to face her fears and meet exhilaration the likes of which she has never known; and the one which fills her head with dread, doom, what-if’s, disaster, failure and humiliation. She takes a small step forward and the positive voice cheers her on, “Yes! You can do it!” Another step, then another; her confidence grows, she really can do it. Then, softly, the negative voice whispers with chilling conviction, “You are weak. You are scared. You can’t do this! Turn back now while you still can!” Suddenly the last few steps become terrifying, as if walking the plank to certain death in shark-infested waters below. She hesitates, wondering, “How do I overcome this fear?”

How to Overcome Fear

Standing at the end of the board she’s shivering, arms crossed tightly, teeth chattering, toes curled over the edge of the board, desperately clinging to the rough, sandpaper-like texture of the only thing that separates her from the depths below. She peers over the edge and sees no sharks, just crystal blue water; yet the voices in her head grow louder. “STOP! Turn back! You fool, you coward, you sniveling idiot,” the negative voice nearly drowns out the challenging accolades, “This is it, you have come so far, this is your chance, just one final step, now is the time! GO!” The sharp command startles her and, without time to change her mind, she steps off the end and falls.

Surrounded by bubbles after overcoming fear & plunging in.

She catapults downward. The rush of the air sends tingles down her spine. Her small body plunges into the water suddenly surrounded by a boiling cauldron of tiny bubbles. She pops up to the surface, smiling. No one can tell that tears of excited joy stream down her wet face as she swims to the side. She cannot get out of the pool fast enough, she giggles and hurries over to climb the ladder to the high-dive once again. This time she reaches the top and walks confidently to the end. “Wait! You are scared, you can’t do this,” the negative voice hisses in her head. She curls her toes over the edge of the board. “Just watch me!” She shouts and leaps into the air.

One Person’s Fear is Another’s Passion

How silly our fears seem to others who have done the things which terrify us. How simple certain activities or tasks seem to those who have never known life any other way. To one, mountains and trees have simply been put on this earth to climb. To another, merely climbing a tree is an act of foolishness and reckless danger…serious injury could result. Ah, yes, but one also could see the world from a new perspective, feel a gentle breeze, revel in the exhilaration of accomplishment, maybe even discover a bird’s nest.

Overcoming fear of heights could result in discovering a bird's nest

So it is with all things new. Is the prospect of starting a blog terrifying? In terms of death, no; but in terms of commitment, I must say yes. Start something that would require updates on a regular basis? Fear grabs hold! What? I fear commitment? I was completely unaware of having commitment issues until faced with the prospect of starting a blog. Well, maybe not unaware, just in denial. We are all aware of our own shortcomings on some level - whether we like to admit it or not.

Overcome Fear: Action Speaks Louder than Words

If you saw the stack of journals I’ve started over the years that are chock full of entries for January, have a smattering of February reflections, then trail off into empty pages, you’d know exactly what I mean. I am that person who swore off New Year’s resolutions for just such reasons.

Yet here I am, fingers curled over the edge of the keyboard shouting, “Just watch me!” As I dive into the world of blogging.

I invite you to join me as I overcome fear and jump into the great unknown. You’ll either be encouraged by my journey or laugh along with me at my blunders. Either way you’ll be entertained. And, really, if you can’t go through life with a little entertainment, why bother? As my mother used to say, “Don’t take life so seriously, you’ll never get out of it alive.” (She was right.)

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