Master Your Fear

Master Your Fear

In our human journey called life, we learn much about emotions, both pleasant or not, from experiences with adults, especially parents. Human development suggests much of this occurs between the ages of 3-5 years.

Do you have a story? It’s ok.

Here’s mine. At age 5, my dad decided it was time I learn to drive a tractor. I was small of stature and the tractor was BIG, but that didn’t seem to bother me. He had taught me how to steer it before, so of course I could drive. On the farm, everyone was expected to work, so I began…

 On this particular day, I was to drive the tractor pulling a wagonload of hay, which was twice the size of the tractor and me. I drove very slow. I was a little scared…and I drove too close to a fence post and broke it off! I was overwhelmed with fear. What would dad say? What would happen to me?…

I turned the tractor off, climbed down and ran to the house crying. “I’m sorry. I’ll never drive it again.”

My dad came around the corner of the barn and called at me to stop, which I did. “Now get back up on that tractor and start it up again,” were his words. There was no arguing. He climbed up next to me and gently, but firmly, showed me how to back up the tractor with its attached wagon of hay.

Lesson: Fear can get you, or you can master it.

This is the beginning of my mastery of fear.  Other fears I’m mastering in my life include: not feeling good enough; fears around trust; fear of failure; fear of achieving; fear around not being liked…to name a few.  Stay tuned as these will be treated in following blogs.