Allowing Fear To Enter

“Courage is not the absence of fear, it's to feel the fear and face it anyway.”
― Jeanette Coron

fear
ˈfir/

noun
plural noun: fears
1. unpleasant emotion caused by belief someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. "drivers threatening to quit jobs in fear after cabby's murder"
synonyms: terror, fright, fearfulness, horror, alarm, panic, trepidation, dread, distress

verb
3rd person present: fears
1. be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening. "he said he didn't care about life so why should he fear death?"
synonyms: be afraid of, be fearful of, be scared of, dread, live in fear of, be terrified of

I do not fear clowns.

Happy go-lucky Circus clowns, or the scariest of terror movie politicians. Clowns are not on my list of fears. I have a brother who had a slight phobia of them and the guy in the video below. To me clowns are people who simply put on too much make-up.

Any fears I have are mine and have either been faced, dealt with or accepted for what they are. It is not to say there are new fears which come along and attempt to get in my way. Fears old or new, come and go just like everyday circumstance.

But what is fear?

Fear "is a vital response to physical and emotional danger—if we didn't feel it, we couldn't protect ourselves from legitimate threats. But often we fear situations that are far from life-or-death, and thus hang back for no good reason."

Your fear of clowns could be a fear of drowning, fear of failure, fear of success or fear of all things brought to your computer screen through either the news or social media. Fear keeps you from moving forward towards a new place in life.

Approaching the fear.

The dark alley, the crowd of people or any circumstance which is labeled as a fear needs to be confronted or at least resolved in some manner.

So take a trip to Applebee's Restaurant for clown night and try to enjoy the Double-Glazed Baby Back Ribs while the clown makes a balloon animal.

And stay inspired my friends!

Why Let Fear Rule

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” - Plato

My Friday thought is, step out of your fears today. Doing so will better position yourself for those connections with others when eventually you cross paths with them.

Do not be afraid of placing yourself out there to experience change. To meet someone and later tell yourself, "if only I had...." will serve to keep you from achieving a better place in life.

Release your fear of change today and look forward to your next encounter at the cross roads.

Stay inspired my friends!

Erase Fear

“Never fear shadows. They simply mean there is a light shining somewhere nearby.” - Ruth E. Renkel

As we go through life, trying to succeed and move ahead to better things, each of us will encounter fear in one form or another. It is a part of our human nature and instinct to have fear over things such as money, job, relationships and health. Fear can also make us uncomfortable to the point of failing to push through to the other side.

An article in Executive Travel by Karlin Sloan, founder and president of Karlin Sloan & Co. wrote about fear and provided steps to help overcome fear when you encounter it. She described fear as making us defensive and reactive instead of allowing us to be "strategic, smart and focused on the right things."

Think about what has happened to you in the past.

You were sailing along in life, performing great. You seemed to have a prophet's eye on what the next steps in life should be and how to achieve your next goal. All of a sudden life throws an obstacle into your perfect plan. Your reaction or fear of the unexpected nearly paralyzes your ability to move forward.

What is it you can do in those situations?

Ms. Sloan offers the following five steps as a starting point to overcoming those fears. Each of them have a practical application in your personal or business life.

1. Stop reacting, start breathing. Take a deep breath before you react. Deep breathing activates your automatic nervous system and shifts you from "fight or flight" responses to your executive functioning brain.

2. Take control. Make a list of your fears. How realistic are they? What can be done to negate any possibility of their happening? What plans are in place to avert crisis? What do you need to do in order to know you can focus through fear? Fear is clarifying -- it can help you understand your risk and how to get through tough times.

3. Build alliances. Leaders who are surrounded by an aligned team have less reason to fear, as well as more backup during hard times. Positive relationships are a grounding force that can nullify fear.

4. Tell the truth. Often during fearful times -- a terrorist attack, a downturn in the economy, after workplace violence -- people want to be reassured. Don't tell people everything is fine when it's not: Be honest. More than hollow reassurance, people want to hear the authenticity in your voice and feel trust that you will tell them what's really happening.

5. Shift into a positive gear. Use fear as a positive. Challenges, heartaches, losses, failures and crisis are opportunities for learning, growth and change. If you can remember this and communicate it, you will be thanked.

Move beyond your fears and get life back on course.

Take fear and use it to spring yourself into a greater place, a better life. You can get beyond that fear and back to smooth sailing. Overcome the adversity placed before you and continue living a great life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Defeat

Defeat III - Self-portrait by Todd Marinovich

"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." - George Edward Woodberry

Failure is one of the biggest fears that many people have in life. Failing at work, failing in relationships, failing at school or failing at trying. It grips us to the point that we settle back into a stagnant frame of mind. The safety of not trying to do anything takes over our lives.

It is at this point we stop growing. Our life will be as it always was and change can never happen if we allow the fear of failing to overtake our mind. We have now accomplished true defeat if we let it happen.

When we step out and try, defeat is merely a teaching point on our road. We take the lessons learned and turn them into an experience that places us closer to success. But you will never know unless you step out and try.

Let go the fear of failure and gain more in your life. The dark walls you surround yourself with will fill with the brightness of light. As you make your attempts and failures occur, your steps forward will not cease. You will continue moving forward with the new found knowledge towards greater things.

Stay inspired my friends!

Speaking Out Loud

“According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” - Jerry Seinfeld

Do you remember the first time you had to stand in front of your school class and read your poem or report assignment. The entire class sat their squirming and heckling under their breath as you approached the blackboard, crinkled paper in hand. The paper trembled slightly as you cleared your throat and looked closely at the first words before you.

A rush of nervous shivers came over you as those first words came out.

Each of us has been in some form of speaking before others at one point in our lives. Or we will have that opportunity eventually. Are you ready for it? Or are you fearful of the idea itself? You shouldn't be. You should easily take on the thought, the task, and have the temerity to speak in front of any sized group of people.

Those people really do want to hear what you have to say.

One can understand how others develop glossophobia or speech anxiety. It is a fear of public speaking and comes from the Greek word glōssa, meaning tongue, and phobos, fear or dread. We all tend to have this fear in one small or very large form. Most of this fear is due to the feeling of being alone in front of others. And with that "being alone" is the fear of people being critical; meaning disagreeing with what or how we are saying something.

You can get past the fear and be an excellent speaker.

In a Psychology Today article, they provide five tips for helping you with public speaking.

1. Don’t Expect Perfection from Yourself
    None of us are perfect, all of us know that.
    Why then kick ourselves over every little perceived mistake we make.
    Others will never know your mistakes; give yourself permission not to be perfect.

2. Avoid Equating Public Speaking to Your Self-Worth
    Being good at public speaking or not has nothing to do with your value as a person.
    It is simply a skill that you can learn and become better at with practice.

3. Avoid Being Nervous About Your Nervousness
    All of us get nervous and many times that can be a good sign.
    Channel that nervous energy into a high energy performance.
    Nervousness is our adrenaline flowing, that’s all, a form of energy.

4. Avoid Trying to Memorize Every Word
    Unless you’re reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or your marriage vows.
    There’s no need to memorize every word of any speech.
    Attempting to will simply increase stress and greater nervousness.

5. Avoid Reading Word for Word
    Avoid reading word for word from a script.
    There’s a big difference between reading and speaking.
    Speaking is creating an impact with your content and personality.

There are many other ways, methods and practice tips for better public speaking. The only one that I know of which is time proven is actually standing up time and time again to speak. If you never try, you will never get over the fear of public speaking.

Start your new year by giving a toast to those at the dinner table or to a group of co-workers at lunch. It will be a first step in easing the fear of public speaking. It is also a much better alternative to being the person of interest at a funeral.

Stay inspired my friends.

Silence the Fear

"Listen to what you know instead of what you fear." ~Richard Bach

My message today is pretty short and simple. Do not let your life be ruled by your fear. Rule your life by what you know. We can all stop and listen to what is inside. The battle between comfort and fear will consume us if we do. But if you stop and listen to what you know, the fear will subside.

Take a bit of time to listen intently to what you are letting fear do to you. Then overcome the fear by rejecting it, by forcing it from your life. Let the good inside take hold and raise you to a greater level.

When you do, the silence you hear will be rid of the conflict of fear. The silence will truly soothe your heart.

Stay inspired my friends!

Overcoming Your Fear

"So I will find my fears and face them or I will cower like a dog." ~Bright Eyes "Another Travelin' Song"

So many times we are confronted by our own fears. We encounter them and we are stopped in our tracks. The path we are on, the one that we felt was finally going to take us to a greater life becomes complicated by fear.

When it comes to fear, another lyric from the song above also says, "I'm not surprised but I never feel quite prepared." We travel our path of life and learn not to be surprised by obstacles. We learn that these things are going to happen. We even learn from past events to ready ourselves for these moments. Yet somehow we end up feeling never "quite prepared" for that moment.

But when the moment arrives, will you cower from it or will you stand up and overcome the fear? And why should we overcome fear? There are four reasons why we should overcome fear.

1. Fear Limits Our Full Potential
2. We Can Never Fully Run Away From Fear
3. Fear Is A Waste of Our Energy
4. Fear Is All In Our Mind

There are probably a hundred other reasons to overcome your fears. My belief is that the most important reason is because fear 'limits' our life. It prevents us from fully enjoying and having a greater life.

Overcome your fear and achieve more in your life and stay inspired my friends!

Risk Reward

"Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins." -Charles Stanley

Are you a risk-taker?

Really think about that question and ask it of yourself again. What you will realize is that all of us are risk-takers. From our very beginning, we are born into an unknown future of which living it is risk in itself. As a teenager we want to drive a car for the feeling of independence. But driving has the risk of accidents. Even with independence is the risk of failing to support one self properly.

Going to college and selecting a major subjects us to possibly making a wrong choice. Marriage and there is a risk of divorce. Risk can be defined in almost every decision we make in life. So in most respects, all of us are risk-takers whether we believe we are or not. What defines the outcome of risk is how we respond to it.

Does risk rule you or you rule it?

So if risk is around us in most everything we do, how is it that some people take additional risks while others play it safe? There are at least two reasons that can answer this question.

One is that we the need for security keeps many of us from taking risks. As human beings, we have a need to want to stay with the familiar and predictable. We like things we can control and understand well. It was Helen Keller who said "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Secondly, fear and doubt keep us from taking risks. For a dreamer, these two things are their worst enemy. The Irish author, Gareth O’Callaghan has this advice, “Do not fear risk. All exploration, all growth is calculated. Without challenge people cannot reach their higher selves. Only if we are willing to walk over the edge can we become winners.”

How do we overcome the safety from and fear of risk?

Well, you can start by asking yourself these three questions:

- What would I do if I were being more courageous?
- How will inaction cost me one year from now if I do nothing?
- Where is my fear of failure causing me to over-estimate the size of risk, under-estimate myself and holding me back from greater achievement?

Whatever answers come into your mind, be aware that your answers are trying to point you to a greater future. Only you can create that future by taking bolder, more decisive and courageous actions. There will always be risk involved, just know that our human condition is created to overestimate the size of risk and to underestimate our ability to handle them.

As written by Lao Tsu in the 6th century BCE, “You are capable of more than you think.”

Stay inspired my friends and "Fortes fortuna adiuvat" or “Fortune favors the brave.”

Release Your Fear

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure." -Bill Cosby

My thoughts are simply, "step out of your fears today, to better position yourself for connection with others when you cross paths." Do not be afraid of placing yourself out there to experience change. To meet someone and later tell yourself, "if only I had...." will serve to keep you from achieving a better place in life. Release your fear of change today and look forward to your next encounter at the cross roads.

Stay inspired my friends.

To Wear Armor

Victoria and Albert Museum - London, UK

"The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That's the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead!" -George S. Patton

Each of us face the worry or anxiety when preparing for big events. It could be that presentation at work, meeting the in-laws, steadying oneself for a job interview. We become nervous and the butterflies in our stomach begin to float about. All the while, we are preparing to do battle with our fears. Having the worry or anxiety doesn't help any.

But the preparation must go on. We must collect all of our fears and deal with them. One-by-one we slay them as we march towards the real fight in which we will succeed. Success though is only found if we defeat the fears first.

On a recent business trip to London, UK, I had an afternoon free of any meetings. It is during these times that I like to take the opportunity to take short visits to museums or other places of interest. Near to my hotel was the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.

It is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, that displays a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria and was founded in 1852.

As I walked through, I came upon a collection of battle armor and weapons. While old and antiquated from my perspective, they were marvels of their time. These were the weapons that men took into battle. They were used to conquer fear and to fight oppression. In some cases they were used for the wrong purposes. But they were the tools used in those times.

I am not suggesting that you take up weapons to fight your fears. What I am suggesting is that we wage war daily against fears that bind us. The battle to overcome that which is keeping us from success must be dealt with. We have many different tools from which to draw from and use.

And there are plenty of resources out there you can use to figure out which tools will work for you. Some of the tips I have come across are;

1. Take time out. Step back, take a breath and relax.
2. What’s the worst that can happen? Don't make the fear larger then it really is.
3. Expose yourself to the fear. Confront it, see what it really is.
4. Welcome the worst. See number two.
5. Get real. Knowledge can have a crushing effect upon fear.
6. Don’t expect perfection. Nothing is perfect and neither is the fear.
7. Visualise. See number one.
8. Talk about it. Discuss the fear with others.
9. Go back to basics. A good sleep, good meal and a walk are often the best cures.
10. Reward yourself. When you slay one dragon, bask in the victory and treat yourself before moving onto the next fire-breathing fear.

Remember that the fear is inside of us, not some army that needs to be defeated. It is not some monster of epic proportion awaiting us on the other side of the door. No, fear is a menacing thing that resides inside of us.

Gird yourself for battle in order to defeat the fear inside of you. Become the victor over those fears and lay them wasted along the roadside. There will be success in the end.

Stay inspired my friends.

No Fear

"You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith." -Mary Manin Morrissey

Sit back and think about how many times you would have done something in life if fear had not entered your mind. Think of standing up in front of an audience to deliver a presentation, asking that girl across the room out to a movie, or trying out for the baseball team. Maybe you thought of trying to act in a play and sing in a musical. Or what about trying to write a book?

Now sit back and think about all of those experiences and how they could have changed your life. Think of where you would be today if you had pushed fear out of the way. The darkness of living in fear would have been lifted by the light of new experience.

I know because I pushed aside fear and did everyone of those things. Was I a success at all of them? No, but each of them have allowed me to experience a great life.

By turning off that knob of fear, by chasing it from your life, there is so much more to be gained. Try something different and when fear gets in the way, knock it aside. This is your life and it is full of great things for you.

Thunderstorms

"We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Early one morning, I was awaken by the crashing boom of thunder. It was the type of thunder that rattles the very walls of the house. There was very little lightening to warn you of the coming thunder. At first is was odd not to see the lightening followed by the thunderous sound.

Quickly though it lulled me back to sleep. That in itself would amaze many of my siblings. I am unsure how it developed, but I had a deathly fear of storms when growing up. And since I grew up on the plains of Nebraska, large thunderstorms were common.

The mere thought of a raging storm filled with lightening and thunder raised fears of great proportion in me. There were times in which I felt so afraid and would cower in a basement corner. The fear holding a tight grip on me in a way I couldn't explain.

Fear can have a debilitating effect on you in ways that can crush your ability to do anything at all. It stifles and takes hold of your entire life. Fear basically keeps you from moving on with your life.

Take the news stories of the telecommunications giant AT&T agreeing to purchase T-Mobile for $39 billion dollars. A staggering sum of money, but with many individual people affected. I know many of those people that work in many various positions. They range from sales associates, to managers and even regional directors. Each of these people will be affected; both in good and bad ways.

One of these folks is a store manager and recently admitted that she at first could have gone to fear with the news. She could have thought the worst; allowing doom and gloom to cover her life. But she resolved to trust first in her faith and secondly in her ability to push through whatever happens.

You may think that is a naive way of thinking. But it is always easier to go to the negative. It always takes more effort to remain positive. Success and achievement take effort.

When the storms come crashing through your window, will you allow fear to rule? Or will you face the fear with resolve to overcome it?

I can tell you that my fear of thunderstorms caused me sleepless nights. Storms ruled the day until I realized that it wasn't the storms; it was the fear that I was allowing to rule my life.

The first crack of thunder still wakes me at night, but it also lulls me back to a gentle sleep. Fear remains outside to fend for itself, far from the life you are building.

Seize Your Fear

"A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths." ~Stephen Wright

Each of us are different in what concerns or bothers us. There are those that share some of those concerns and others that tend to be out on the edge. But any of those things we are afraid of can be overcome. Even being afraid of widths!

Some overcome these obstacles quickly and others take years to overtake them. Myself, I have signed up for swimming lessons. Yes, at this age I am working to overcome my fear of water. To be more precise, my fear of drowning.

I have reached the point where I have decided that this fear will not be my undoing. You can reach the same point for your fear. All it takes is deciding within yourself to not let the fear rule your day.

My own fear has deprived me of experiences with my sons while they were growing up. My fear has deprived me of adventure with friends. My fear has had it's day and now it's over. I am reclaiming my life from that fear.

You do not deserve to let fear rule your life. Overcome your fear and let your life blossom into it's greatest potential. Carpe diem or better yet, carpe vereor, "seize the fear."

Whitewater Fear

"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

There are some of you that may be aware of my lacking skill in the area of swimming. For the greatest share of my life, I have feared drowning. In a previous post called "Help, I'm Drowning", I spoke a little bit about why I've had this fear. Many may call it silly, but one person's road bump is another person's mountain.

So I have begun a process to confront and get over this fear of the water. A previous kayak trip was a start and then this past weekend, my wife Laura convinced me to go with her and others to raft upon the Ocoee River in the lower, eastern corner of Tennessee. I will be quite honest to tell you that the fear began building inside while signing in at the outfitters location.

We chose to use one of the best outfitters in the area called Ocoee Outdoors. Our adventure was going to take place on the middle Ocoee River in class III and IV rapids. Oh joy I thought to myself, at least I'll die around family this fine day.

As we road the bus to the top of the course and I could see the rapids off the right side of the road, it just got more intense for me. This process of taking a raft down the Ocoee isn't a sign a form and jump in the river type of process. You go through a short safety lesson at the base camp, you get a semi-long bus ride about 13 miles up the river to the start. There is another lesson with the boat, oars and signals by your assigned guide. So there is plenty of time to think about what you have just gotten yourself into.

I was trying to think of every excuse in the book on the bus ride to the top. Could I get sick, could I trip and fall getting out of the bus; what would be my escape plan this time? So many times before, I was able to find a way out of having to deal with the fear. This time it just wasn't going to happen.

I won't bore you with the details of my trip down the river. The description of the rapids and ride are available at American Whitewater. But to say the least, the first rapid was a III+ called Grumpy which forces you right into the thick of things. From there on down, just over 20 more rapids to go.

And as you can see, I'm writing today so I survived my fear. I survived the trip down the Ocoee River. Have I overcome my fear? Not yet, but I'm working on it. Next step is to start those swimming lessons again that I quit taking nearly forty years ago.

Overcoming your fear of anything in life requires confronting it first. Admitting that it exists and understanding the impact it has on your life. It certainly has affected my life and those around me for many years. But now I can change my life, my attitude towards the fear, and so can you.

I'll let you know how the swimming lessons go once I start. Keep me honest folks if you don't hear that I'm taking them. And then send me a note about how you overcame your own fears. I'd like to put together a book about how we each have done so. Together we might just be able to help a few others overcome their own fears.

NOTE: Yes, that really is me in the picture (back left), my wife Laura (back right) encouraging the whole way. Up front taking all the water are my wifes good friends Sarah on the left and Rachel on the right. Our guide Valerie was fantastic; making sure we hit every rapid (thank you very much) and giving us a great tour of the five mile stretch.

Help, I'm Drowning

"We experience moments absolutely free from worry. These brief respites are called panic." ~Cullen Hightower

This past weekend was one in which the unexpected happened beyond the planning I had done. One in which you get brought to your fear and have to face it without fully realizing its going to happen. Oh the joy of trying to face your personal fear when all along you have been trying to avoid it.

My personal fear is the one of drowning. Falling into the water, being submerged and never coming back up. It is silly to even admit at my age, but I can not swim. I can't float on the water nor tread water to save my own life. The fear can be pretty overwhelming at times and stems from an incident when only 7 or 8 years old.

As I tell the story, though my brothers would disagree, is that we were all at the local pool. I had just started learning to swim albeit not very well. So I was confined to the shallow end and my brothers were to keep an eye on me. Bouncing about in the pool, having a good time two unknown kids came along, one high, one low and took me under the water and held me down.

It seemed like I was under water for 10 minutes but in all reality was only 10 seconds I suppose. But it scared the living daylights out of me and became my biggest life long fear. The joke in my family became that I could no longer take a bath for fear of drowning.

Over the years I have tried with little success to truly over come this fear. I can take a bath thank you, but bodies of water, boats and such still make me nervous. Most times I try to avoid placing myself in situations that could cause me to confront the fear. So to my surprise, this weekend challenged me on this front.

An overnight camping trip for instructors of the C3 Journey program in the north Georgia mountains to discuss some upcoming events. As we sat around the fire at Raven Cliff Falls, the conversation turned to a planned kayak ride down the Chattahoochie River the next morning. Now my plan was to head back home and do some work around the house. It was a planned avoidance of the water, but my wife was with me and encouraged me to go down the river.

It was a 'spur of the moment' decision on my part and said yes. What could go wrong, but inside I was feeling the fear build. So off to Wildwood Outfitters and a 'fun' afternoon of kayaking; something I had never done before. A quick lesson and into the water we went.

Not too far down the river, I tipped over in shallow water and thought oh geez, here we go. I continued my trek with the others down the river, manuevering as best I could. I felt better as things went along and the fear subsided a fair amount until half way through the journey. Here we were coming up on a Class 2 rapid. Many would consider this nothing, but to an unexperienced paddler and one fearful of water, it could have been a Class 6 in my mind.

As I neared, two fellow kayaking folks had got hung up about ten feet past the drop. I was heading straight for them and no other way around. I told myself, drop into it and then muscle your way to the right and around them. The old saying, "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men" by John Steinbeck was never more appropriate. Head first into the first two kayaks and the rushing water spun my boat around and then upside down.

The interesting thing in these (to me) terrifying moments is that there was a panic button right there underneath the water. In a moment I was grabbing for whatever was nearby as I was caught upside down in my kayak. Lucky for me while unlucky for my friend was his loose t-shirt that I grabbed hold of.

I am surprised I didn't pull him under and soon enough I was untangled and able to get my feet in the turbulent water. All three feet of water that is. All of a sudden the panic was replaced by embarrasment and trying to regain composure. And trying to find my kayak and paddle...the first rule is to never lose your paddle.

The rest of the journey was filled with a few more exciting moments. Although nothing that made me confront my fear of drowning more then the incident at what I call, "That Damn Rock Rapid". I would like to tell you that a miracle occurred and my fear is completely gone. I would like to tell you that its that simple. But it isn't, there is still work to do in overcoming the fear.

What I can tell you is that I know that I need to confront my fear more often. That the only way we ever get over our fears is to face them. To avoid and run from the fear will only embolden that fear. You give it strength over your life by avoiding it. By facing the fear, you take away that strength from it. You keep facing the fear and eventually you overtake it. I should have learned that long ago, but last Saturday was my first step.

Step forward and get in the face of your fears. Find ways to confront the fear and eventually you will find the fear running from you. I may have nearly panic'd myself into drowning, but I've also panic'd that fear into one day leaving me.

Stock Market Tumble

Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt.

-William Shakespeare

The events of the last day and what could turnout to be a couple of bad days is nothing new to the world at large. The good and bad economic times tend to 'come and go' in sporadic cycles. As the picture depicts, the 'bubbles' are chased and eventually those 'bubbles' break.

The hardest part is trying to keep your wits about you and to not let fear grip your entire being. Marie Curie, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 said, "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." This current economic crisis is no different.

Now is the time to read and learn as much as you can. In doing so, you will better understand what is happening, it will lessen your fear and give the ability to make smarter choices. There is a great cartoon by Gary Larson, which shows a bunch of lemmings walking down and into the water. About half way up in the crowd of lemmings, one is wearing a life preserve ring. He is going where circumstance is taking him, but he is prepared.

As Hunter S. Thompson wrote, "Buy the ticket, take the Ride." You're here and life is not going away. Prepare yourself, let go of fear and enjoy the ride.