Brave Enough?
When I was younger I had the worst fear of the dark. It was awful. I could not walk into a dark room, i had to sleep with light coming into my room, sleeping with the door closed was out of the question and any noise i heard from any dark corner would send me screaming to my mother for protection.
As I got older i started to realise that my fear was holding me back. With light coming into my room, I didn’t really have a good night sleep, and if my door was opened, as soon as someone else in the house started to walk around, it would wake me up.
Now not being as brave as I would have liked to be, I started to take control and make little changes. I would close my door ever so slightly and over time i closed it a little more and a little more until i was comfortable enough to close it all the way. I also realised that when you turn a light off the room is dark, but once your eyes adjust, it is not pitch black.
I also took note that mum left her kitchen light on and her door opened, nan left her kitchen light on and her door opened as did my other family members. Then I realised that it was learned behaviour. We had grown up with it for so long we just did it, but it added to our fears.
It was a huge accomplishment to get to the place where i sleep with my door closed, blinds down and a sleep mask on. I am no longer afraid. I’m so glad I questioned why I was afraid and did something about it.
How long did that fear keep me trapped? How long did it prevent me from experiencing things?
So my question to you would be, is there anything in your life that is being missed out on because of fear? And what would happen if you questioned it and took small steps to overcome that fear?
You may be surprised by what you achieve.