F alse
E vidence
A ppearing as
R eal
Growing up at our families summer camp in southern Utah, I had a lot of opportunities to face some serious fears of mine. One being the fear of heights. From a young age I hated being up on cliffs or being up high where I feel like I could fall. It was around the age 12 or so that I started rock climbing and started to face that fear head on. I would tell myself that I could do it no matter what. What I learned was that I could do anything I put my mind to. I remember my father telling me over and over again as a child.. "There is NO SUCH thing as CAN'T." He was right. Although I got sick of hearing him tell me that. He instilled in me this "I CAN" attitude. What I realized years later is he wasn't just teaching me, these life lessons are what he taught so many of the campers that came to camp year after year.
What a great blessing it was to have him in my life. He imprinted into my heart this amazing feeling of acceptance of who I was. One of his last letters he wrote to me before he died, he told me to always stay true to who I am and to never let anyone or anything change that. He also told me that he never worried about me because I was one tough gal and he knew I would figure things out.
I believe I learned to be tough and to feel the fear and do it anyway from him. There have been times in my life I have no idea what I am doing but I do it anyway knowing that I will learn something of value through the experience. Especially right now in my life I am doing things that I have never done before nor do I have any clue how they are going to turn out. It's ok, I am learning I don't have to know what the path is going to look like to take a step onto it AND I do know that keeping in good positive action will eventually get me to where I am seeking to be.
If I let fear get in my way, I will only keep spinning my wheels and stay stuck. It's like that first step off the cliff when you are repelling. I could sit there and keep telling myself it's impossible for me to do it or I can tell myself that it's just one step and then it's all down hill from there ... LITERALLY. Don't allow fear to rule you and your decisions. Know that you have all the answers within yourself and that as you walk through the fear, there is a sense of personal accomplishment on the other side of it.
Just today I had to get clear with those things in my life that are keeping me stuck. So many fears of the unknown. A good friend of mine reminded me of how important it is shut off the world, and get to work. That is exactly what I did. I am getting comfortable with feeling uncomfortable because that is where the growth is. It's literally stepping off the cliff and having no idea how you will be carried and having the faith that everything will be ok. It's scary.. I will admit and it's empowering to know that I am heading in the right direction. Eventually the light will appear as I choose stick to the task at hand and speak my truth.
My personal experience is God wants us to have pure joy in our lives and the closer I get to my goals, the scarier it gets. Doesn't mean I should give up .. just the opposite.. it's time for me to buckle down and get to work and push through those tough spots because on the other side of them is PURE JOY.
So much of what we fear never even comes to light. It's the lies that we believe and build up in our mind soo big that instead of taking one step we plant our feet firmly in the mud and stay there. Take one thing that you have been procrastinating and call a friend and ask them to be your accountability partner. Set a "by when" for when you want that done. It really works. It took my friend today to help me walk through this door that I wasn't wiling to go to til today....which door is the door of my creating what I will be sharing with the world. I thank her for her honesty and love she shared with me to help me move from where I was to now where I am.
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