FEAR!!!

I was talking with a friend about fear the other day and it got me thinking about the role that fear has played in my life. According to FDR, the only thing we truly have to fear is fear itself and I couldn't agree more. The thing about fear is that it is like emotional cancer; once it is alive in your mind, it spreads to all of your emotional tendrils. Having been completely incapacitated by fear and anxiety at one point in my life, I have an intimate understanding of this. What I learned from that experience was the importance of knowing who I was, believing in the internal resources I had to manage any situation and that it was up to me to manage my perception of my life experiences. A lot of learning for a 12 year old. I think I made a little pact with myself then that has stayed with me over the years...that I would never let my fear control me again. That is not to say that I do not get scared; after all, I am still human, but I've made conscious choice to understand that fear signals opportunity to grow if I can slow down and examine what is causing the discomfort.