Doing what we are afraid to do

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Always do what you are afraid to do. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

As a kid, I was afraid of a lot of things. I overcame my fears then by tackling them.

I was afraid of heights, so I climbed up our silo and jumped down inside into the silage inside. It did that until I could look down from above and not be afraid of heights anymore. How I came out of it without any broken bones I may never know!

Conquering my fear of heights made going up into the mountains a beautiful time for me. While everyone else in the car was freaking out and wanted to "get off this mountain," I was getting one of those natural "highs."

I was terrified of speaking in front of people, so I joined speech in school and went around the state giving speeches to strangers.

I was one of the speakers at my high school graduation.

I have always been afraid to give my opinion on things. What if I get it wrong? What if my wrong decision or advice creates a revolving vortex of agony from which there is no escape?

So I got a job as a reporter. Sometimes it seems like I have created a miniature version of the revolving vortex of agony...sometimes it feels like I am right in the middle of it! Most of the time, though, getting to the bottom of things and reporting accurately what has taken place at a meeting or another event is a great way to spend my days.

I always tell our new hires that "We are recording history, so we need to be accurate and fair."

Doing the things that scare us is one great way to overcome those fears. Or if not overcome them, at least develop coping skills to deal with them.

I am still queasy at great heights. I don't like to look down from a tall building. But I do it because I don't want that fear to control me.

I still don't like talking in front of people, but I do it frequently because it is important to keep up that skill.

I’ve overcome my fear of a lot of things throughout my life. One thing is sure though, I’m still terrified of spiders! And NO I am not going to sit in a roomful of spiders to conquer this fear!

What things are you afraid of? How do you overcome those fears?

Have a great and fearless day!!

Best wishes,
Karin 🙃

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Recent Comments

24

When I first started playing guitar in front of an audience my hands shook so bad my biggest challenge was just playing. That happened for about a year, then my confidence took over and now I have no problem. You do have to face your fears and keep at it until you become comfortable with what scared you.
Ray

I try to find what exactly causes that fear, most of the time it is something in how we were raised or programs or even deeper than that. I was just talking to other half about this very thing last night. We met on the phone when I was doing MLM for a nutritional supplement company over 12 years ago. My upline member had to go to the hospital and I had to do the conference call. LOL me public speaking don't usually go together. But, I had to call my now other half who was living in FL and me at the time in TN because he was the guy who did the conference control which was back then called Hot Conference.. Well his name is Robin, whom i thought was going to be a woman and instead it was this incredible voice on the phone.. I was speechless already in a panic because I was doing that call and then speechless with that voice bahahaha...but I digress..

We were talking about that last night, and we've been doing a healing work lately with deep seeded problems, and I realize my fear of public speaking is because growing up I wasn't allowed to express myself to my parents. There was no defending, explaining, or anything with them. Even a look which was innocent and didn't realize I was given would have gotten me spanked or yelled at or something that was abusive.

Sometimes, by discovering what is causing our fears we can then address it, acknowledge it, tell ourselves this is the present we are no longer a little child anymore. Heal from it, then we can face whatever it is we are afraid of head on. Fear gone... Well, I'm still working on the public speaking thing that will still take a while for me to get used to, but hey last time I had a major one, I ended up with a wonderful man :)

Thank you for this wonderful post, sorry such a huge comment.
Sara

Karin, Yes always face fear head on. Overcome it and it becomes a learning experience.
EHR below mentions the book Feel the Fear and do it Anyway. Excellent book. Read it several times when I was in nework mktg.

But when it all changed was the first time I heard the definition of Fear.

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

When those words finally set in my mind, I have never had another problem with it.

Sonny

Excellent -- we all need to confront our fears. Only then can we overcome them.

Nice post Karin,

Great way to conquer fear is to face it, right you are.
I fear to face the camera and make videos:))

Hope I am able to overcome this fear soon.

Regards,
jivita

Thanks for sharing this awesome post!
Wish you smooth week!
Bob

Thanks, Bob! Hope you have a great week, too!

Best wishes,
Karin 😁

That spider has beautiful long eyelashes!
The only thing I am afraid of is confined spaces, such as elevators, though I still use them. I also hate flying now. Philip does not like heights, like you, but he also tries to conquer his fears.
Thanks for an engaging post, Karin!
C & P

Spiders kill off pests like flies.

again wishing there was a laughing button

For three days I'm thinking.

Facing 2 of my fears today, flying and being on video with a bad hair day. Last night, I gave a speech🤗🤗🤗. And no freaking way on the spiders. I think not, no thank you. If there is a spider on the next flight i will literally pee my pants

Great post! Very profound wisdom! With enough courage we can tackle and defeat our fears! Keep up the good work!
Michael Inman

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