Title: Dealing with Fear!
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Blog Entry: Dealing with Fear! Imagine if you will a young boy, born in May of 1957, one of twins. In 1964 at the age of seven I was in the second grade, living in a small town in British Columbia, Canada. I remember like it was yesterday standing in the classroom at recess when this overwhelming fear came over me, almost to the point of panic. I realized that my twin brother was in trouble. Twins have a built in connection with each other, a sort of extra sensory perception one could say. I ran outside to see him on the ground and this big eighth grade boy standing over him. He was crying and scared out of his wits. This boy was much bigger than I was and I froze like a deer in your head lights. I will never forget the fear that I felt that day. I believe that fear is the largest contributing factor in making decisions that change our lives. Fear can be a very controlling emotion. In my career in sales I've had to overcome some huge obstacles. I remember walking into the first few cold calls I had to make, sitting in the parking lot of a customer trying to convince myself why I shouldn't take the next step and walk through the door. Images of rejection were running through my head, telling myself that these people don't need my products. My prices are too high or they won't buy from me anyway so why try. I've wanted to go to college and get my degree for many years but stepping out of the comfort zone that I so masterfully built for myself has kept me from doing that. Fear was also a big factor in that decision as well. I was married for 18 years the woman I had fallen madly in love with and somewhere along the way we grew apart. The marriage wasn't working for either of us anymore, we grew to resent everything about each other but yet we stayed together. It was easer to stay in that bad relationship then it was to confront the fear and step back into the world as a single person. I have a hard time stepping out the comfort zone that I created for myself and taking a risk. Fear can be debilitating I know from my own life experience when I confront my fears head-on my life gets better. There is a great quote by Henry David Thoreau: “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, brand endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Thoreau, H (1854). Ihas: Poet. Retrieved March 25, 2009, from pbs Web site: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/thoreau.html As an adult I began giving presentations in front of large crowds; I remember the first time I really overcame some of my fear. I was in Denver Colorado and I was one of the key speakers at a large function, over 200 people, up until that point I had always looked to the back of the crowd and found one person to talk to, overwhelming fear to the point of having tunnel vision. That night I stepped up to the microphone and talked for almost an hour. The fear was gone, I was having a great time, and people in the crowd enjoyed what I had to say. Afterward some of them came up to me and said what a great job I had done. All this because I chose to not let fear beat me. I stood up and confronted it head on and didn't give up till I had mastered it. Once we choose to go down the path of change and fix just one little thing in our lives, we wonder why we didn't allow ourselves the freedom to make the change a long time before. If you can force yourself to step out of your comfort zone then I truly believe that life can be good, and all of us can achieve our dreams and goals, if we let it happen.
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