Fear

This time of year is always so insane for me! Getting started on the ride, taxes for friends and family, and the weather can't make up its mind if I should be outside starting my spring cleanup or not!
But no matter what is going on, I still take time to reflect on the things that have made me who I am and the things that I have passion in- and the reason behind that. I take time to be thankful for all the blessings in my life!
This morning I saw a sweet friend post something on Facebook about fear... and it reminded me where I have been. It is true that once you face your fears, your experiences are limitless! 
When Troy and I married we talked about some of his fears... spiders, heights, snakes! So what did I do? I took him to the reptile expo, I made him hold a spider that was as big as his hand! I adopted a snake, a six foot boa from the rescue. Then I got him a flying lesson! Until you have stared those fears in the face, and convinced your mind that you are not afraid... those things will always hold you back!
I lived in fear of so many things, altho I tried to ignore those fears and lived life on the edge, I was still terrified of so many things. Then prison happened, and all those things during that time frame of my life- losing my kids, my home, everything I owned and the people who I thought cared for me... those are the things that scared me. I was forced to face my fears! I lived my fears.
When I turned 40 my life changed. The eye opening experiences that I had been thru... what matters and what isn't as important as we always thought. What are we truly afraid of and what is just a petty phobia.
Failure was always a fear of mine. I was always pretty successful in the things I did, but I always had my mother pounding it into my head that I was a failure... no matter what I did. I had to get past that! Failure is not really failure. If you try and don't succeed, at least you tried- and learned what doesn't work! If you just don't do it... that is failure. You are failing to try, failing yourself. Just do it! What are you afraid of?
No matter how big or small your fears, face them- confront them- overcome them! You will be so much more at peace with yourself and your life. You will have so much more freedom to really live and be the person you are really capable of being!
One of my big problems for a long time was fear of confrontation. Do you have any idea how unhealthy that is? Truly self destructive. We have to allow those emotions to flow, we have to have communication. I have people in my past that I held so much anger and hatred for. I knew I had to let go of those feelings, I knew I had to let the hatred go in order to move on with my life. And I knew the only way to allow that to happen is to confront those people, talk about the hurt and the anger, and put it behind me. I would go into full panic mode with even the thought of coming face to face with some of these people, let alone bringing up those feelings. But we have to put ourselves in those most uncomfortable positions. It is truly the only way we can move on, be happy and healthy, and live!
How can you ever sky dive if you are afraid of falling? how can you swim with the dolphins if you fear water? How can you travel the world if you are afraid of flying? Fear is the biggest enemy, the biggest thing that holds you back from being the person you truly want to be! Afraid of being told no? What if they say yes? You will never know if you don't ask!
So my advice today... JUST DO IT! Don't think about it, don't worry about the 'what ifs', just go for it!
And Thanx Brit for inspiring this post!