This piece is about facing your fears and the difference it can make in your life. Here is a short testimonial from a friend of our daughters about finding the joys of motherhood by facing her fears.
“Before I had my children, I never wanted children. I also was frightened by other people’s children. I knew they were smarter than me and would see right through my insecurities and blurt them all out to everyone in their precious, honest-to-a-fault little voice! Man, I’m glad my life isn’t up to me! I started to transform into the person I should have always been once my son came along—not while I was pregnant with him (I was still petrified) but the second he was born. I could feel it happening. People who had been around me before and after commented on it, and all I could say was, “I love being a mom.” It wasn’t what I wanted, but it turns out it was what I wanted. The movie “Waitress” with Keri Russell shows my transformation in movie form. Just take out the affair, the deadbeat husband and the pie-making skills.
These three amazing people that live in my house and depend on me, I have no doubt, they are my angels. ”
Each of us has experienced how paralyzing fear can be by holding us back from experiences we might actually want. Here are some things I’ve done to try to face my fears and move beyond them:
1. I said something to someone I’ve always wanted to say but have been too afraid. For example, when I told my father that I finally stopped blaming him for leaving my mother for another woman when I was still young. I forgave him.
2. I gave a speech to 400+ statisticians in an auditorium and took their very difficult questions at the end of the speech.
3. I approached a homeless person on the street, looked them sincerely in the eye and asked if I could help him.
4. I started my own business with very little capital, a limited business education, and no office furniture.
Whatever the scary thing is, see what happens when you jump into it rather than avoiding it. You may discover that it wasn’t what you thought you wanted, but it turns out it gave you far more than you ever expected.
Kathleen