Last week I touched on how anxiety can affect our personal lives and how it did in my own experience and the experience of my friend. Seeing that powerful change in my friend was and remains to amaze me to this day! And that reminder that they have of once being able to overcome a huge fear, can now power them through the fears and anxieties to come!
Every person has some kind of fear that’s holding them back. Have you ever met someone who doesn’t? More specifically, what about those fears that are interfering with the lives of your family? Think hard about this one. About something you could overcome that would help your family in the long run.
Bringing it back to one of the many challenges and fears I’ve been trying to improve, I’ll admit that I have a fear of germs. Sometimes it gets pretty bad. I like my home to feel “safe”, and I used to think that anything entering it from the outside would need to be cleaned. I’m not kidding when I say I would wipe down every item that entered our home. Just returned from a trip to the grocery store? Well guess what. Cans, cereal boxes, the milk carton, you name it, are all getting wiped down. The places they were sitting in the grocery bags on the floor before I put them away? That’s getting mopped down. It was bad and I’d be lying to myself if I said it wasn’t this way at all anymore (but I’ve improved immensely!). I decided that I wasn’t going to let this fear control me anymore. My husband was patient with me but I could tell when I majorly crossed lines (which was often). For his sake, for the sake of my sanity, and for the well-being of our future children, I decided to change. I would mentally prepare myself for items crossing our threshold and then being placed on a shelf, without being wiped. I told myself that some germs were good and that we needed them. Sometimes, I would have to sit and stare at these items and tell myself everything was going to be okay even though they weren’t going to be “clean”. Needless to say, I did that and I still am. I’ve moved passed groceries and am even practicing this with other things.
Maybe you struggle with something similar to me. Maybe it’s gathering the confidence to try making a meal for your family or the strength to call a friend you haven’t spoken to in years. Maybe it’s finding the courage to ask your boss for a raise or stand up to a family member who hasn’t treated you as well as you deserve. Whatever your fear, you got this!!
I’m curious to hear from you about your experience!
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