The following is something my daughter, Staci Lynn, recently wrote.  It really encouraged me!

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” ----Eleanor Roosevelt

“Feel the fear and then do it anyway” Jillian Michaels-The Biggest Loser

I believe I had inadvertently started on a path of self-destruction. By no means was this on purpose. Is it ever on purpose? We start out with the best intentions. We start out knowing that this time we will be bold. This time we won’t cower in a corner. This time, we will walk the path toward our dreams with courage and boldness. 

And then, there it is. That twinge in your stomach that says: “What the heck am I doing?” “You can’t do this.” “It’s not possible.”

That “BOLD” “COURAGEOUS” attitude lasted for…. about a minute, if that. Once the initial thought of, “There’s no way I can do this” sets in, it’s only downhill from there. The seed was planted. Doubt has now invaded. Fear has crept in. Again.  You find yourself in the pit you said you would never go back to. This pit is full of self-deprecating thoughts, hopelessness, unbelief, bitterness and that’s just naming a few of the things that tend to latch on to you.  You’ll never set out on an adventure that would prove to be more than you could handle again. It only leads to disappointment. We start believing every little lie that’s whispered in our ears. We have now created a habit of believing the worst about ourselves. This is one of the slowest most painful deaths that can invade our lives.  You are slowly killing yourself when your thoughts are consumed by toxic lies that are intended to hinder and barricade you. You think you’re protecting yourself. You think you’re “playing it safe”.  My friend, you are deceived.

Really, it wasn’t more than you could handle…

It was just more than you could control and that freaked you out.

How do I stop feeling this fear? How will I be happy or successful if I am constantly finding myself paralyzed with fear? How do I overcome this?

I believe the thing that separates the successful from the unsuccessful isn’t that they learned how to stop feeling afraid. It’s that they felt the fear and then did it anyway. 

Ultimately, the Perfect Love of God casts out all fear. So don’t think that I am saying you have to feel fear of every little thing for the rest of your life. God CAN and WILL deliver you.

BUT I believe it is stepping out in faith when you FEEL afraid and move forward anyway. It says that “Contrary to how I feel right now, I know that GOD loves me and is faithful and holds my world in the palm of his hand”.  God doesn’t fail folks.   We have temporary setbacks but there’s that beautiful truth that we can’t forget: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Start living and stop letting fear control your every move and every decision. It is not God’s will for you to live like that. In fact, he sent Jesus so we could have ABUNDANT LIFE! So have it, dadgummit. (Staci Lynn Woolf)   Good job sister   Stay Tuned