What scares the sh*t out of you? What can you do about it?

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Cesar Mascarenhas Child Imagination, Flickr Creative Commons What is fear to you?

  • Is it the monster in the closet that looms over you in the middle of the night?
  • Is it those butterflies that won't stop fluttering in your stomach?
  • Is it that dread you wake up with, morning after morning?

Cesar Mascarenhas Child Imagination, Flickr Creative Commons

What do you do with fear?

  • Do you run away from it?
  • Do you run straight into it?
  • Do you pretend it's not there, blocking it out by doing something that makes you feel good (whether it's good for you or not)?

Fear comes home

Fear was my constant companion the year my father was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. At first I blocked out my fear by turning to food therapy, bingeing on junk food. My exercise regimen went out the window and and my weight shot up. In the end I felt worse rather than better. Meanwhile, my dad was dying and there was no time to waste.

Turning towards fear

There comes a point when the effort to avoid fear (and the ensuing burden of guilt) exceeds the fear itself. Caught between a rock and a hard place, I knew it was time to change course and head straight into the fear.

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