When I read Jane’s blog http://knowboundaries.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/the-fear-factor/I realized that so many of us struggle to confront our various fears.
The other week I took a few days off and headed to Belgium for a long weekend. Living in Holland, this was easy we just packed up the car and my husband drove us there. We had a great time but my husband had to head back a day early due to work commitments so I duly drove him to the nearest station so that the kids and I could stay another day.
The day I was going to drive back with the kids I thought we might as well head to Brussels and visit Mini Europe. So why am I telling you all this?
Well, I am not that confident a driver! I’m not as bad as some people I know but I will admit to always taking the same route into town and parking in the same car park no matter what the weather even if it is miles from where I actually want to go! I don’t like relying solely on the sat. nav. And don’t really enjoy driving on roads I am not used to. Had I spent time thinking about my decision to head to Brussels I would have talked myself out of it. Instead I told the kids that’s what we were going to do and I then felt I had to go through with it. So instead of taking the easy option and driving straight back to Holland (which was a big enough thing for me in the first place) we headed for Brussels.
It wasn’t until a friend sounded amazed that I had done this that I realized what an achievement it had been for me. I had got over my fear by not thinking about it too much and by telling someone else what I was going to do which helped me to feel accountable and now I have something else to add to my personal list of achievements.
Next time you are faced with a challenge don’t spend time on the negative ‘what if’s, harness the energy produced by the fear and just do it – you to might be surprised by the results.
