Run Toward Fear

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said these words to comfort a country devastated by a harsh depression.
The meaning of Roosevelt’s statement was to face your fears so they do not paralyze you.

If you always run AWAY from your fears, fear will always be breathing down the back of your neck like a hungry monster.

Running towards your fears requires you to step outside your comfort zone and into the unknown.
This is because hiding from fear can cripple people and usually makes the situation worse.

When you do approach the situations you fear, you find that usually things are not as bad as you had imagined. Plus, you feel an incredible sense of accomplishment when you take on those fears. You might even feel relaxed!

For example, most people have a fear of speaking in public. The root of this is the fear of being judged. Setting yourself up to speak in public (even if you bomb!) can be a great start to running towards your fears. If you can get through this, you have the tools needed to get through most anything else that comes your way.

It takes courage to break through and face whatever you are afraid of. Watch your self-talk...

Because if you think of yourself as a wimp, and call yourself a wimp, you will BE a wimp! Take a page from David Bowie’s book and give yourself a brave new alter ego. Step into a new role. Maybe you would never confront a bear head on, but you as Macgyver would.

Maybe you would never cliff dive...but you as your alter ego would...

Better yet, look for a role model to imitate and Just do it! And give yourself a reward. The first time you do something is always the hardest. After that, it gets easier each time.

Life is full of challenges that need to be dealt with. Sheltering yourself from facing those challenges only puts them off to deal with later. This will NEVER lead to a positive outcome.

Confront your challenge head on, because you will be stronger person.

Images via Unsplash.

Thanks for reading :)