Courage

Hello, I just got back from swimming 25 laps...that is what facing fear will do for you. (See yesterday's blog)

I will just write some more thoughts about courage and fear.

One thing I heard is that people who are paralyzed by their fears treat fear like a stop light...the red on a traffic signal. If they are afraid they avoid whatever it is. They stop any forward movement. Their life gets smaller and smaller, because their choices get less and less.

People who move forward even though they are afraid treat fear like a yellow light. They go with caution. (I know, I know the analogy breaks down if you are like most people and you speed up to get through the yellow before it turns red.)
But for the sake of this subject, we will take the yellow light as it was intended....caution. (Yes, I think that is an apple in the photo of the traffic light.)

When you meet up with a fear, it is okay to be cautious. Examine what your fears are. What is the worst that can happen? Are these real fears? Talk to someone who is a compassionate listener. (Someone who calls you a wuss or tells you to "Just Do It" is not what I am talking about.)

I have a group of people who are my support team. They are not my closest friends or best buds, but we are there to help each other. We email requests to the group for prayer or advice. And we do what is called a sandwich call. We call someone and tell them our fear and ask for support while we face it and then call them afterwards and report in. For example, if I were afraid of a job interview, I would call someone from my support group and talk to them about it just before the interview. Then after the interview I would call them back and tell them about it.
This way, we are not alone.

Some of you may have family you can do this with. Anyway, it is a good tool to use to face fears.

Later,

LA