Today I Am Afraid: Getting to the Big "O"


by Vicki Flaugher - Date: 2006-11-28 - Word Count: 487 Share This!

Today, I am afraid. I have problems that I have to face and fears I have to own up to and all I can seem to say is "I am afraid". To bad attitude me, it stinks. To the more expansive and philosophical me, I know that courage is facing your fear and doing it anyway and I truly want to transform (yada yada yada…) but darn it, my bad attitude self wants to know just why it has to be so scary.

Apparently, change is scary. Fear, with its accompanying shortness of breath, knot in the stomach, and racing heartbeat, is your body's way of getting your attention. It's fear, leading to the proverbial Opportunity with a big "O", knock, knock, knocking on your intentions, pushing on your doubts, pulling on your hesitations. It sometimes masquerades as bum luck, or a bad hand of cards, or sudden disappointment. Just at the moment you have convinced yourself that your secret doubts and thoughts were just imaginings and that everything isn't so bad really, it strikes.

Fear does not give up. Unlike maybe your forward motion, your healing efforts, your confidence, fear will keep going until it gets what it wants.

What does fear want? It wants you to be you, to live fully and authentically. It wants you to allow your emotions to flow through you and out of you and resonate in the world that you touch around you. It leads to Opportunity, the provider of first chances, second chances, and once in a lifetime chances. And it won't go away until you listen.

If you don't answer the first gentle nudging of fear, that subtle intuitive discomfort you get but you ignore, then the knock gets louder. Next, maybe you have a series of bad days, the nagging growing louder and louder. Finally, assuming you are still in denial, tragedy strikes. You get fired (from that lousy job you've been too chicken to quit), you get dumped (by that inattentive and unavailable man you've been meaning to break up with), or you end up in the doctor's office needing medication (even though your gym membership is paid in full until 2010). At moments like this, you can bet that fear and, ultimately. Opportunity is behind it.

So, maybe today you are afraid. But, the minute you say it out loud and embrace it rather than denying it, it will start to disperse. The interior dialogue, the doubt, the deep down trembling will no longer overtake you. You will be free to look fear in the face and take action on your own behalf. After the fear has lessened, you will take action. And that is another story for another day.

So, be brave and face your fear. It will go away if you acknowledge it and you will be empowered to move forward. Shout "I am afraid!" from the mountain tops and you too will get to enjoy the big "O"!


Related Tags: fear, women, abuse, change, motivation, loss, woman, inspiration, spiritual, female, grief, hope

Vicki Flaugher, creator of http://www.SmartWomanGuides.com, is on a mission to nurture and empower the 35-55 year old Coming of Age female audience. Her website is a worldwide community site where Smart Women everywhere can submit articles about their own experiences surrounding topics like aging, health, entrepreneurship, relationships, spirituality, and sex and sensuality (to name a few). You can join in the fun at her blog at http://speakout.smartwomanguides.com Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

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