L E T T E R – Working With Fear Part 2; Bravery

If you haven’t read the first part of this Letter series you can do so here.

Continuing on from yesterday! We chatted also about how to conquer fear. Sometimes this is a nice idea, but fear cannot be conquered directly at times. I loved a story Emily shared, where she said she went rafting in rapids. She had a very physical moment of fear when she was with friends far more experienced than her. She knew she didn’t have the skills to attack this particular part of the river, yet she ignored the fear, and she ended up getting sucked under, tumbling through rapids and hitting her face on a rock underwater and chipping a tooth. It was a harrowing experience and shook her confidence on every level.

After a while, she had to accept that she was becoming increasingly fearful in other areas of her life. It was like the shock of that situation had made her fearful across. Social situations, or dining out alone, suddenly seemed more concerning to her. Anxiety was rising slowly. So she assessed the situation and was deeply honest with herself and started finding ways in which to get out of her comfort zone and embrace her fear. Heading to the Opera House to see a musician she had longed to see, and couldn’t find a single friend to go with, suddenly seemed terrifying. A great place to start! So she went on a date with herself, out to dinner, a glass of wine in a beautiful bar, then off to see the show. Alone. She loved every minute of it. She couldn’t believe she was going to deprive herself of something so fun, simply as she was ‘scared’.

This is how she tackled her new found fear. Not by getting ‘back on the horse’ per se, but by addressing fear in other areas of her life. Slowly and surely, the fear started dissolving. And she is adamant that next time, she also won’t put herself in a physically dangerous situation when every cell in her body is telling her not to do something. We can work with fear so brilliantly when our bodies are screaming out no, and our ego’s say yes. And we can also master it by understanding fear is everywhere, so we can tackle small things and build up the confidence and muscle around fear slowly and surely.

Sent with love,

Jac x