FACING YOUR FEARS
FEAR (ˈfir/ )
an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do something that scares you every day.” I recently adopted this motto and my life is becoming more and more interesting. I truly believe the only way to confront our fears is to kick them straight in the face.
Throughout the last year my life has drastically changed and I realized that in order to become the person I wanted to be I had to get rid of all of my fears(or try at least!). So I started facing them one by one. I haven’t gotten to the end of my list yet but it’s just a matter of time. [real list on the side]
A few days ago I conquered one of my biggest fears: waves! As silly as it sounds I’ve always been highly terrified of waves and the ocean. I’m a great swimmer in a pool but the moment I see waves around me I panic and completely lose it! I lived in LA for years and I’ve probably been into the ocean no more than two times. Finally, last week, thanks to some very persistent friends I was talked into going surfing. And I won’t lie, the first few minutes I was in the water I wanted to crawl into a ball and die (or punch my friend who was holding me there lol and run away), but then after being there awhile, getting smacked by waves left and right…it all went away! And years of avoiding the ocean all of a sudden made no sense at all.
Trust me, there isn’t a more relieving feeling than finally getting over something that scared the hell out of you your whole life! It makes you grow and it makes you a much better and ballsier person. When you stare your fears in the eyes you push your boundaries, you step out of your comfort zone and that’s exactly where the magic happens! Like that famous quote says "Life BEGINS at the edge of your comfort zone". The first step is by far the scariest and unfortunately most people can’t find the courage to take it and they let the self doubt and misery fear brings take over their lives.
Three of the most common and self destructive fears are Fear of Death, Fear of Failure and Fear of Success.
FEAR OF DEATH
I learned at a very young age that I shouldn’t be afraid to die, death is inevitable and nobody knows what—or if anything at all—will happen to us once we are gone. So why waste the little time we have here worrying and fearing something that doesn’t even have an answer. Like the amazing Roberto Benigni says “it’s far more risky to be born than to die. We shouldn’t be afraid to die but to never really start living!”
FEAR OF FAILURE
Fear of Failure is definitely something that stops people from really living. So many people give up on their dreams and don’t live the life they deserve because they are too scared to do so. They are so afraid to fail that they fail to TRY at all in the first place. The worst thing in life is to arrive on our last day and realize that we only lived a life of regrets, regret for the things we didn’t do and things we didn’t say. That to me would be much more terrifying than failing at something! Failure is good. It thickens your skin and it makes you wiser. Please go out there and fail! Don’t be afraid to try, fail many times and learn from it. It’s so so worth it!
FEAR OF SUCCESS
I think some people are even more scared of the idea of succeeding than the idea of failing. Success brings bigger and greater things to our lives (sometimes even bigger than ourselves) and it comes with a whole load of responsibilities attached. People are often scared by responsibilities and hard work, I think they are even more scared of discovering that they are much more than they think they are in the end. Don’t be afraid to be greater than yourself, you already are! By holding off you are depriving the world from the amazing gifts you could bring on the table.
Some fears will never go away completely but if we get up ready to face them everyday we will all make it! We can choose to let Fear rule our lives or we can choose to start LIVING our lives NOW cause in the end now is all we know we have for sure! Choose love over fear and let the magic take you away! : )
