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“Do one thing every day that scares you.”

I opened an email from a monthly women’s newsletter, and that was the message that stood out. Do one thing every day that scares you. What a fantastic idea! Certainly we don’t want to do things that scare us because they are dangerous. Driving down the highway at 100 MPH with a blindfold instead of a seatbelt is NOT the kind of fear we need to overcome. That kind of fear is good.

This statement is referring to those fears we all have; the fears that hold us back or make us somehow feel less strong than we know we are. Facing those fears, looking them in the eye and conquering them, is empowering.

It may mean having the courage to finally get in that elevator and ride it to the top floor. It may mean signing up for a community play and getting on stage in front of a packed house. Finally learning to swim. Signing up for a class. What’s the worst that can happen, really? So what if we flub? Is it really going to change the tides and lead the earth into Armageddon if we ask for something we want and are met with a “no”?

So what if we try a new paint color, besides a neutral, in our bedroom and decide we don’t like it? So what if we take guitar lessons and find out we really ARE tone deaf? So what? What if we face that fear and discover it’s really not that frightening after all? When we do that, we can tackle something else that scares us, and then something else. Fear feeds on itself. Cut off its food supply.  Do one thing every day that scares you.