What’s Worse than Fear?
July 6, 2009
by Monica M. Deer
A couple weeks ago I was online checking my Facebook. (Yes, I admit that I am borderline addicted to keeping up with my almost 700 friends on Facebook, some on Twitter and I even read the every day inputs of several friends’ Blogs, but I digress) I was reading recent “status updates” on my friends when I came across one quote that has revolutionized my thinking. The quote simply said:
“Something worse than fear . . . living with regret!” POW! It hit me right in the chest. It wasn’t some profound statement from Confucius or Abraham Lincoln or even Dr. Phil. It wasn’t even an Ah-ha moment brought on by an emotional topic on Oprah. It was a simple quote made by a wise women, friend and Life Coach, Janet Daughtry, but it is a simple sentence that has changed me forever!
A fact about me, that most people do not know, is that I have struggled with fear and anxiety for most of my life. In the past, I have sought the help of counselors, doctors and even prayer partners to help me to try to overcome this one obstacle that I have dealt with for as long as I can remember. I know the feeling of sitting on an airplane, with that nauseous feeling in the pit of your stomach, sweaty palms and racing heart waiting for take-off. I also know the terror of an oncoming panic attack, during which you feel that you can’t get oxygen in or out, your body is tingly and numb all over and you feel like you’re going to die. I’ve experienced it all. I’ve used any means possible to try to alleviate my fears (from therapy to medication), but ONE simple statement has completely changed my view of life AND of the fear I have lived with for so long.
There have been times in my life that I have felt unable to make plans for trips or events because of the fear that would be associated with flying. I have always been able to make up excuses to get out of situations that would cause me to develop these uncontrolled anxieties. But, over the past few days I have realized that it would be worse to live my life with regrets of what I wanted to do – what God wanted me to accomplish – based on the fears of what may happen, but honestly probably never will. I have to believe that His ways are always higher than My ways and He is always in control.
Can I say that I will never experience fear again? No, I can’t. Do I believe that there will never be a day that anxiety may creep in and cause those irrational feelings of death. Probably not! However, I can say that I will not allow FEAR or ANXIETY to control my destiny, dictate who I am or hinder me from fulfilling the dreams that I have or the plans that God promised He has for me in Jeremiah 29:11. I will NOT live with the thing that is worse than fear itself . . . REGRET!
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