Fear is a part of everyday life. Read that again. Fear is part of everyday life. It’s always lurking around, threatening us, horrifying us, on bad days crippling us, and on good days simply annoying us. There are the mega fears—both real and imaginary: that someone is following you when you walk alone at night or that you might be killed by a terrorist the next time you go to the mall or a movie. More common are little nagging fears that keep you awake at night, eat away at you, and prevent you from experiencing the day around you. How do we work through all of these sources of anxiety?
Personally, I haven’t found one all-purpose answer. But, what seems to ring true for most situations is that you have to challenge yourself to do things that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable. For me, this approach helps me wake up, calm down, and extend myself. In the past ten years I’ve noticed that physically challenging tasks are the ones that cause the most visceral fear reactions for me: seeing my fears, my seeming limitations, and questioning how I can go beyond what I think I can…
