Courage in Leaving Your Fears Behind - Jane's Mindful Musings

Jane Witherspoon is a Canadian expat adventurer, yoga instructor, and passionate rambler who recently relocated from Panama to Denia, Spain.

We all have those fears that hold us back from fully embracing all that life presents to us. These fears or phobias can be irrational and disabling. There is an understanding that they are not logical but can lead to doing almost anything to avoid what we are afraid of.

Learning to negotiate these feelings can be a lifelong journey of digging in to find your inner courage and exploring a variety of coping mechanisms that may aid in easing your anxiety.

It is suggested that most fears or phobias develop in childhood but can also manifest later in life. Understanding is the first step to overcoming them. It is important to know that you are not alone or weird - they are common. By learning to face our fears we get the chance to learn how to cope with them and gain control over the situation.

This is my personal journey with learning to face those fears. Everyone has their own journey and each can be as unique as the person. As I have said in the past, I am not a professional and do not profess to have the training to provide professional advice.

Being an exceptionally shy child, life was a lonely existence. I had a constant fear of saying or doing something that would be embarrassing or make me look silly. Nightmares of navigating social situations wherein everyone would laugh at me filled my sleep. A reoccurring dream is arriving at school only to find I had forgotten to wear pants - to this day that memory creates internal anxiety.

Into adulthood that shyness manifested into a social anxiety whenever the opportunity to attend a social gathering was presented. For many years that fear controlled my life, finding ways to bow out at the last minute or avoiding learning new skills in a group setting. And yet, at the same time, I learned to dig deep and find the courage to push through if it was something that I truly desired.

Always feeling strong enough to deal with life and scoffing anytime a doctor hinted at signs of depression, I had a moment of crisis at the tail end of peri-menopause where my coping mechanisms failed me. For the first time in my life there was acceptance that I needed help.

A two pronged approach in the form of pharmaceutical anti-anxiety medication and doing the internal work helped me find the courage to face this fear. It starts by recognizing the fear and anxiety and doing the internal work to understand why I was feeling this way and how to move forward in a positive life changing way.

Do I still feel anxiety? You bet, but feeling stronger by taking control and choosing to live life in an affirming way.

Overcoming fears or phobias takes time. By taking one small step at a time, most people can reduce their anxiety and, in many cases, move beyond it. Work with a loved one, family member, trusted friend, doctor or therapist if you need support on the journey.

And so my Sole Sisters, as you ramble through your week, challenge yourself to face a fear one small step at a time.

Each of us must confront our own fears,

must come face to face with them.

How we handle our fears will determine

where we go with the rest of our lives.

To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.

--Judy Blume

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every

experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.

You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror.

I can take the next thing that comes along.'

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.