Run or Rise

                               The only thing to fear is fear itself( Franklin Delano)


Every day in our lives we are grappled, numbed with this emotion “FEAR.” Fear, Fear Oh Fear!!! Webster’s Dictionary defines FEAR as an agitated state of mind that cripples us from looking further than the hardship itself. Every human struggles with the emotion of fear; fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of a certain disaster, fear of men, fear of the future, fear that God has abandoned them. Fears of all sorts elbow their way into the out stream of conscious thought, while some fears are constructive-many heroes are born by their reaction to a life threat

Yes there are a lot of things in life that stir up fear in our hearts. The world is a scary place, and there are many things that have the potential to steal our joy. The future, is one of the biggest fears, for it comes with an uncertainty, the unknown is a terrible and haunting thought to think about. As humans we do not naturally gravitate to things that are guaranteed to cause us harm. That’s why we have reflex actions, they protect us. But sometimes what we fear is not harm or pain, but our own success. You may have a dream, you may have plans in your mind and you might have even put it on paper. But there is a feeling inside that is stopping you from believing that you can actually do it. Life experiences and your circumstances as they stand have convinced you that there is no way you can get there. They have convinced you that you are dreaming too big and you are aiming too high.

Sometimes we just fear what may or may not happen. The possibilities are endless and it seems safer to not move at all. Because at least you’re acquainted with the space you’re in right now. Change is a scary thing, I was personally scared of change for a long time. I liked being in control of situations and the slightest change would give me anxiety. I would feel like a prisoner of circumstance.

Imagine with me that you’re standing on the edge of a bridge, about to bungee jump. The countdown begins… In these last moments your body becomes overwhelmed by fear. But you decide to jump off the edge despite how you’re feeling, and now you’re enjoying the air against your skin and the view makes the jump worth it. In that moment you decided that your desire to jump was greater than the fear that surged through your body. THAT IS THE ONLY REMEDY FOR FEAR. To decide to push through and free fall into the unknown. In her book about breaking free from false reflections, Arianna Walker says that we need to be careful of who we invite to sit at our table. Faith and fear cannot sit at the same table.


There’s a cool acronym about fear that I learned at a conference a few months ago. It goes like this:



I found it so powerful because fear makes us run from our dreams and our possibilities. But the choice is ultimately ours. Run or rise. We need to starve fear and feed our faith, feed our dreams, and feed our hopes. Today, regardless of what you’re feeling, choose to starve fear. Choose to rise. 

I am an Occupational Therapist by profession, but I have many roles that bring meaning to my life. In short, I love people, books and love.

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