Being Fear...Less

“Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it… That is the quickest and surest was ever yet discovered to conquer fear.” ~ Dale Carnegie

Let’s talk about fear for a second shall we? Recently Jeff and I took a trip to the coast and visited the Trees of Mystery in Klamath, Ca. Part of the attraction, is a series of rope bridges hung from the Redwood canopies. Talk about cool.

If you knew you could handle anything that came your way, what would you possibly have to fear?

Except, as you can tell from this picture, I am afraid of heights. As in I don’t like being off the ground, even a little bit. Walking across bridges makes me nervous, especially when they swing and there isn’t water below (at least with water it’s not such a hard fall am I right???). The entire time I was up there, I was holding on for dear life, taking one step at a time and holding my breath. I was so afraid up there, that when I would get to the platforms in between bridges, vertigo would hit and I’d feel as if I was going to puke. I’d take my time on the platform, inhaling deeply to catch my breath, let the world stop spinning and take in the sights and smells of the trees.

I knew going up the stairs to this series of bridges that I wasn’t particularly going to enjoy the experience, but that didn’t stop me. I rubbed some calming oils on and convinced myself that is was safe and that nothing was going to happen to me, or else I was going to miss out a unique opportunity. After all, a majority of fear lies in our consciousness and isn’t rational or real. Fear is really just the thought that we can’t handle a certain situation.

Today, I want you to ask yourself, if you knew you could handle anything that came your way, what would you possibly have to fear. Now repeat after me, “I can handle anything that comes my way.”

For more ways to conquer your fears, check out Susan Jeffers’ book “Feel the Fear, and Do it Anyway”