I love water...I love it falling from the sky, crashing on the shore, pouring from a cliff, flowing over rocks, or rippling gently in a lake or pond. I love to hear it, see it and feel it. In spite of this innate love of water, somewhere and sometime, something made me fear water. I can play in it, swim in it, and even swim under water, but any time that water flows across my nostrils, I feel panic...an unreasonable, unexplainable, but very real, panic. Sometimes I can keep from gasping...sometimes the panic takes over. When I am totally submersed and water is all around my nose, I am fine...but when coming out of the water, or standing in a shower, or when rain is on my face and dripping around my nose, I feel the fear. I don't know why I have that fear...I don't know where it came from...but I have never been able to overcome it, so I have found ways to circumvent it. I still walk in the rain..I still swim in and under water...but I've learned to prepare myself for those times when I know the panic will come, and I'm able to still enjoy water.
We all have fears...some we can explain...and some we can't, but to enjoy life, we must face them and do the things we like in spite of our fears. We can't try to ignore them...they are there. We must move forward, feel the fear, and yet move on. Whether it is meeting people, giving a speech, performing a task, taking on a project...whatever it is that we need to do, we must admit we are afraid, but still face it. Find a way to do what you need or want or love to do. Sometimes the fear will eventually go away. Sometimes, like my fear of water, the fear will never completely go away, but we can't let that fear keep us from something we love, or from striving for our goals.
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