Feal the fear, and do it anyway

"I have often been afraid, but I would not give in to it. I made myself act as though I was not afraid and gradually my fear disappeared."

Theodore Roosevelt
Former American President

Fear makes us do all kinds of counterproductive things. Fear makes us shy away from trying new things. Fear makes us procrastinate. Fear makes us hold back from giving a hundred percent. Fear makes us too timid to speak up when we should. Fear makes us not ask for what we deserve. Fear keeps us from traveling to foreign lands, because we can't get on an airplane. Fear keeps us from loving with our whole heart.

For some people, fear is so crippling they can't even leave the house.

It's easy to look at other people, doing the things we're afraid to do, and assume they have no fear, and that if only we could vanquish our fear, we could do anything. But that's probably not the case. Many great people have admitted they accomplished great deeds while shaking in their shoes.

The key isn't to vanquish fear, because that's nearly impossible to do. You have to feel the fear, acknowledge it ... and learn to live with it.

Franklin Roosevelt had it right. You simply pretend you're not afraid and do the thing that scares you. After you do it a few times, or maybe even just once, the fear gradually fades.

Fearlessly,
Kara