“Fear is the trigger for hesitation, yet it is also the energy that makes life exciting. If you embrace your fears, you become master of your own forward movement. Choosing fear changes fear from adversity to adventure.” Dean Hyers
Think of going on a roller coaster for the first time. You are hesitant because you are afraid, but at the urging of others you get on the ride. Then the ride begins the long climb up to the top of the first grade, can you hear the clacking of the wheels on the track? It seems to take forever to get to the top, and yet at the same time you are wishing it never will. You hear others betting that they can’t hold their hands up in the air the whole ride, and you notice that your fingers are tightly gripping the metal bar, which is the only thing that will keep you from ejecting out of your seat and flying through space without a parachute. You get that hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach as the car starts sliding down the long drop, as fear causes your stomach to do flips. The wind from the ride dropping straight down blows your hair in your face blinding you, and you slide from side to side in the car as it is whipped around the corners. screaming through time and space – no wait that is you screaming, as you hurtle through the loops up and down until at last it slows to a stop and you get out.
Watch the kids as they leave the ride and you see that they mastered their fear as they rush to get back in line, laughing and telling each other about the rush they had – the fear changed from adversity to adventure.
What if every time you are afraid and your stomach is lurching, you remember the exhilaration of riding the roller coaster for the first time and the rush you felt as it ended and you ran to do it again?
What if you faced every fear in your life as a great adventure, knowing that you will safely come to a stop at the end and be ready for the next thrill?
Instead of resisting or even permitting fear to be part of your life, what if you value it and enjoy it?
If you can learn to really embrace your fear like a loved one that you haven’t seen in a long time, then you can become the master of forward movement.