Freedom from Fear
A friend of mine has a daughter named Adeia. When she was born I asked her what Adeia meant, and she told me “freedom from fear” . Immediately I got tingles all over my body.
The more I learn about myself, the more I realize how bound I am by fear. I used to think it was just kind of a personality thing whether or not someone wanted to jump out of a plane… and some of it is, but more and more I realize it’s not that simple. There are people who are scared and do it anyway, and there are people who let their fears limit them. Eventually I think the first group is no longer scared. There’s been a couple times in my life where I thought, “I’m scared to do such and such.. but if it really came down to it, I could blank ----like if I was offered a million dollars, I could totally do blank (ie jump out of a plane)…” A couple days ago I realized that maybe that’s not the case, maybe I really am CRIPPLED by fear.
I was watching the Amazing Race (wonderful show). The task was for racers to go down this six story water slide that went through a shark tank (through a plastic tube, totally rationally safe--- but understandably scary). One racer got to the slide, complete with her swimmies (circa 6 years old, blow up pillows that go on your arms—clearly they would save someone if they A) fell from six stories or B) got eaten by sharks). As she was freaking out, they flashed to previous episodes, one where she discussed how afraid she is of water, and one how afraid she is of heights. She was able to get through both of those tasks because she didn’t really have to do much with heights or water. This one however was different. For probably 20 minutes, her partner was trying and trying to convince her to go down the slide. There was one part where he really crossed a line and tried to make her go down the slide, but I’ll forgive it because of the amount of stress he was under. Finally another team came up behind them, the LAST team came up behind them. He told her, “you’re giving up a million dollars if you don’t go down this slide.” And she couldn’t do it. She walked down the steps instead of going down the slide. They got kicked off the show.
You wouldn’t believe how many roller coasters I have waited in line for and then when it came down to it, I couldn’t go. I stepped across the coaster and waited on the other side for my friends to get off. Then I walked down the stairs to go to the next ride.
I’ve gone on roller coasters before (probably three in my lifetime) so I’m fairly confident I could do it for a million dollars, but what about something a little more scary? What about not for a million dollars? How about for my freedom? Could I do it for my freedom? Could I do it to have freedom in my life…
could I do it to be free from fear?
I’m tired of being afraid.
The more I learn about myself, the more I realize how bound I am by fear. I used to think it was just kind of a personality thing whether or not someone wanted to jump out of a plane… and some of it is, but more and more I realize it’s not that simple. There are people who are scared and do it anyway, and there are people who let their fears limit them. Eventually I think the first group is no longer scared. There’s been a couple times in my life where I thought, “I’m scared to do such and such.. but if it really came down to it, I could blank ----like if I was offered a million dollars, I could totally do blank (ie jump out of a plane)…” A couple days ago I realized that maybe that’s not the case, maybe I really am CRIPPLED by fear.
I was watching the Amazing Race (wonderful show). The task was for racers to go down this six story water slide that went through a shark tank (through a plastic tube, totally rationally safe--- but understandably scary). One racer got to the slide, complete with her swimmies (circa 6 years old, blow up pillows that go on your arms—clearly they would save someone if they A) fell from six stories or B) got eaten by sharks). As she was freaking out, they flashed to previous episodes, one where she discussed how afraid she is of water, and one how afraid she is of heights. She was able to get through both of those tasks because she didn’t really have to do much with heights or water. This one however was different. For probably 20 minutes, her partner was trying and trying to convince her to go down the slide. There was one part where he really crossed a line and tried to make her go down the slide, but I’ll forgive it because of the amount of stress he was under. Finally another team came up behind them, the LAST team came up behind them. He told her, “you’re giving up a million dollars if you don’t go down this slide.” And she couldn’t do it. She walked down the steps instead of going down the slide. They got kicked off the show.
You wouldn’t believe how many roller coasters I have waited in line for and then when it came down to it, I couldn’t go. I stepped across the coaster and waited on the other side for my friends to get off. Then I walked down the stairs to go to the next ride.
I’ve gone on roller coasters before (probably three in my lifetime) so I’m fairly confident I could do it for a million dollars, but what about something a little more scary? What about not for a million dollars? How about for my freedom? Could I do it for my freedom? Could I do it to have freedom in my life…
could I do it to be free from fear?
I’m tired of being afraid.
Comments
However, on a different angle, I read Steve Dahl's column in the Chicago Tribune this morning and was amazed at his stance on fear--I do think it is okay to not seek out fearful or scary situations--I am with Steve in that I do not pay money for someone to scare me. As he says, life is scary enough!