August 5, 2010: Fear or no fear.

Hola, All! Today while Jan and I were driving to a book study of "A Course in Miracles", we started talking about fear. It's been on my mind because I really want to live a fear-free life. I think I have less fear than other people, but it still raises its head every once in a while. So, really, what is there to fear? Why are so many people afraid to make a change in their life that ultimately could have really positive impacts? Believe it or not, I let fear keep me from living a full life for way too long. A few years ago I came to the realization that I am in the last third of my life. With that revelation, I decided to face my fears and enlarge my comfort zone. Since then I've done things like made speeches in front of an audience, stood up for what I believe, lived with a Maya family in a third world country, went to Costa Rica by myself to study Spanish and lived with 2 famililies that I had never met. What I have found is that everytime I face a fear, my self-confidence rises, I become more outgoing and things usually turn out wonderful! I have also taken on the attitude that if things don't turn out, then it was all a good learning experience. At the book study, guess what one of the topics was? Fear! I wrote down something that spoke to me: "Look upon the things that you fear. Discover them. Dig them up and out of yourself." Isn't that great! Instead of trying to hide the fear, face it and move on. One thing the instructor asked was, "Where is the edge of your fear?" I"m still contemplating that one. Now, back to my original question, "Really, what is there to fear?" I'm not sure I can answer that question right now but my hope is that one day I'll say, "Absolutely nothing!"
Chao for now,
Dawnie