Be Thankful For Your Fears!
As I was typing out an Instagram post this morning for #ThankfulThursday I realized something, for everything that I'm thankful for in life, MOST of it didn't come easy! In fact, some day's feel like an uphill battle just to keep things going at the pace, and in the direction that I'm truly happy with. Is it worth the fight? Always. But in that fight, it requires facing some of your fears, a lot of your fears honestly!
So is fear something that we're born with? Or is it something our minds create to keep us from
achieving our goals? I'd go with the latter right now. This seems true to me because of the way I feel after facing a fear and then feeling the reward from that. It's almost as if THAT is what our brain was going for the whole time, just by letting us feel fear it also lets us feel a sense of accomplishment, peace, and happiness from overcoming it.
A great example of this for me personally is overcoming my anxiety. Social settings have never been something that I just love and flourish in, and throughout my teenage years it was something that I struggled with on a daily basis. Finding confidence is scary! Whether it's the courage to walk into a room full of people with your head held high, or speak in front of an entire congregation without stumbling on your words, it's intimidating if you let your anxiety kick in. The more I got over my fears as a young adult, and I took the public speaking class, or I held interviews with future employers, or I closed in on sells with strangers as a retail manager it grew and grew my confidence with unfamiliar and social settings. To the point where now, I almost crave those new, unfamiliar, intimidating situations.
Do I still get a little bit nervous before something new? Well yes of course, I am human after all! But over the years, and with every situation I've encountered it's made me more comfortable in my own skin, and my brain has learned that no matter how intimidating the situation is that you're encountering, when it's all said and done, it definitely won't kill you!
So walking into our local college after being out of school for almost 10 years, and not knowing anything about what I was doing other than "I want to be a teacher, which requires a 4 year degree from college" that was intimidating. I was scared. I put it off for 5 years past when I should have, all because I was fearful. But something finally pushed me over the edge, to where I knew if I ever wanted to achieve my goals, I absolutely HAD to get over my fear of doing something new, something challenging, something outside my normal routine, all so I could make it happen for me and my family.
So I did, and even though I was nervous, I made the leap and I got enrolled. Walking into school for that very first meeting, I was a mess. I was emotional, and nervous, and excited all in one! But leaving, it felt SO good! And now I may feel nervous about what it's going to be like for the next 4 years, or how I'm going to handle being a stay at home mom of 4 and a full time student and wife, but it's good nerves now. It's excited, proud, happy nerves. It's the feeling that I'm finally making a move in the direction I was meant to move in for my family's future. So I'm trusting my faith that I've made the best decision, and I'm thankful I was brave enough to overcome my fears just to get to this point, all so I can put in the hard work, all to eventually reap the rewards!
So while fear can be scary, how awesome is it really?! I'm beyond thankful for everything that fear has taught me, for everything that fear has allowed me to learn! I'm so thankful for where fear is, there is also great reward. I'm so thankful that overcoming my fears has led me exactly to where I need to be, and that it has prepared me to face every next fear that I come to! After all, Fear is only a 4 letter word!
So is fear something that we're born with? Or is it something our minds create to keep us from achieving our goals? I'd go with the latter right now. This seems true to me because of the way I feel after facing a fear and then feeling the reward from that. It's almost as if THAT is what our brain was going for the whole time, just by letting us feel fear it also lets us feel a sense of accomplishment, peace, and happiness from overcoming it.
A great example of this for me personally is overcoming my anxiety. Social settings have never been something that I just love and flourish in, and throughout my teenage years it was something that I struggled with on a daily basis. Finding confidence is scary! Whether it's the courage to walk into a room full of people with your head held high, or speak in front of an entire congregation without stumbling on your words, it's intimidating if you let your anxiety kick in. The more I got over my fears as a young adult, and I took the public speaking class, or I held interviews with future employers, or I closed in on sells with strangers as a retail manager it grew and grew my confidence with unfamiliar and social settings. To the point where now, I almost crave those new, unfamiliar, intimidating situations.
Do I still get a little bit nervous before something new? Well yes of course, I am human after all! But over the years, and with every situation I've encountered it's made me more comfortable in my own skin, and my brain has learned that no matter how intimidating the situation is that you're encountering, when it's all said and done, it definitely won't kill you!So walking into our local college after being out of school for almost 10 years, and not knowing anything about what I was doing other than "I want to be a teacher, which requires a 4 year degree from college" that was intimidating. I was scared. I put it off for 5 years past when I should have, all because I was fearful. But something finally pushed me over the edge, to where I knew if I ever wanted to achieve my goals, I absolutely HAD to get over my fear of doing something new, something challenging, something outside my normal routine, all so I could make it happen for me and my family.
So I did, and even though I was nervous, I made the leap and I got enrolled. Walking into school for that very first meeting, I was a mess. I was emotional, and nervous, and excited all in one! But leaving, it felt SO good! And now I may feel nervous about what it's going to be like for the next 4 years, or how I'm going to handle being a stay at home mom of 4 and a full time student and wife, but it's good nerves now. It's excited, proud, happy nerves. It's the feeling that I'm finally making a move in the direction I was meant to move in for my family's future. So I'm trusting my faith that I've made the best decision, and I'm thankful I was brave enough to overcome my fears just to get to this point, all so I can put in the hard work, all to eventually reap the rewards!So while fear can be scary, how awesome is it really?! I'm beyond thankful for everything that fear has taught me, for everything that fear has allowed me to learn! I'm so thankful for where fear is, there is also great reward. I'm so thankful that overcoming my fears has led me exactly to where I need to be, and that it has prepared me to face every next fear that I come to! After all, Fear is only a 4 letter word!
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