I may have a son ‘Living with Autism’… and this is considered with some as a disability, will I have got to tell you I get surprised sometimes by how many of us are ‘Living with Fear’… and THAT can be a disability!
Why?
Because it will affect your ability to live your best life, both professionally and personally.
I am talking about that irrational fear that stops us from walking up to the front row in a seminar, that fear that stops us from asking a question we want answered, that fear that stops us from dancing when that is what we wanted to do. It is an irrational illogical fear.
It is not a fear for our physical safety, because let’s face it; we won’t die from sitting in a front row! It is our emotional safety that we are concerned about.
Yes, that is, it seems how emotionally fragile that we have become, so much so that somewhere along the way we became more concerned about what other people thought about us than what we thought of ourselves.
Well enough of that because that will hold us back from living our best life.
Do you know, that because of that fear, there will be new friends not made, songs not sung, dances not danced, dreams not realised and goals not achieved.
There will be laughs not laughed, questions not asked, parties not attended and rooms not entered.
There will be opinions not stated and status updates not written, likes not given, sales not asked for and jobs not applied for.
There will be hairstyles never tried and sequins never worn, poems not penned and speeches not delivered, there will be passions not expressed, goals not set and dreams not realized, there will be sales not asked for and praise not given.
There will sex not had, love not experienced, places not travelled and adventures not had and mountains not climbed….
And after all of that, after all of that holding back and letting fear take control, at the end of our life we will not say… “I am so glad I never got on the dance floor that night… I am so glad I never travelled to India like I always wanted too… I am so glad I never danced that night and took that risk”… no you will not say that my friends.
It is then we will realize that the regret far outweighs any fear we had.
I know fear can be that sick feeling in your stomach when you are about to try something out of your comfort zone.
I still feel it so often and yet I am up on stage speaking, doing something that is such a big fear for so many people.
But you know what I think now, when I get that feeling in my tummy… I think that it’s my sparkle and it’s trying to get out!
I now embrace that feeling of fear and know that it means that I am living on the edge and about to step out of my comfort zone again, and that is exciting and exhilarating.
Remember that the same chemicals are released into your system when you are excited as when you are scared… so I now process all fear as excitement.
Think about all those scary and exhilarating rides that people go on in Theme Parks, they are scary but they are also exciting and although there is a lot of screaming, people still hop off laughing (sometimes feeling a little ill!) and they are ready to go again!
Life and our experiences are sometimes like those rides, feel your fear, then do it anyway and enjoy the ride!
What are we scared of really… next time fear stops by, let’s go to the mirror, look at it and say,
“You know what? What I think of myself is far more important than what other people think.
I have one life to live and I am not getting out of here alive, so get the hell out of my way because I got some living to do!”