Decimating Fear
Last Friday, I had lunch with an incredible friend that has influenced my life for over thirty years. She is a kindred soul and we are constantly teaching each other by sharing life experiences.
Like most of us, fear has prevented her from pursuing many of her dreams. Prudence and caution have served her well, but sometimes she tends to cling to safety. She is always fully stocked on the shortest of road trips with extra food, water, and at least two sets of road flares. Just in case…
I bumped into her at a yoga class a few months ago and she had some huge news. A very expensive home repair had her questioning a current living situation. With one daughter away at college and the second daughter poised to flee the coop, she realized that she had way too much space and the cost was likely to weigh her down as a soon-to-be empty nester. On the same day, she was going to take the first baby steps by visiting some open houses in a nearby development.
When she walked into the first townhouse on her list, her heart went into overdrive mode. Within minutes of crossing the threshold, she signed a non-contingent full price offer. She followed her intuition and made the leap. Over the next 45 days, it all worked out with amazing synchronicity. Her realtor quickly sold the existing house, she completed the mega-purge, closed the new home without a hiccup, and smoothly moved into the new digs. Knowing her as I do, this is like spending a lifetime in the shallow end and then and then skinny dipping at the mid-day company pool party.
Throughout the meal I witnessed a glow that had been previously smothered by years of stressful living in fear. Her “rip the band-aid” approach to this move completely changed her life. Her only regret was waiting so many years to finally take the leap. By taking such a big dive into the ocean of fear and emerging victorious, her confidence is righteously overflowing. She said, “Fear and happiness just cannot coexist in the same room. To make space for the happiness, I decimated the fear. What used to look like a black diamond ski run is now a bunny hill.”
I have always felt that she was unstoppable. With a lighter load, I think she agrees. It will be so much fun to watch her blaze a new path.
