Hello February………..you’ve arrived. I thought you were never going to get here; your neighbour to the left of you seemed to go on forever! Maybe it was to do with the resolutions lots of us placed upon ourselves at the start of last month, not to mention the dryness of it, if January without alcohol was something you set yourself as a challenge. To those of you who did, well done! I tip my hat to you.
I’ve done a couple of dry January’s in the past and at the end of both of them, I felt an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction coupled with a wonderful sense of achievement (not to mention a much lighter glass recycling bin that I pulled with ease to the end of my drive using one finger instead of the two-handed effort that it takes sometimes!). May you enjoy a glass of something lovely this evening in the knowledge that your liver has been rejuvenated and repaired and although you can’t hear the words, it’s actually saying, ‘thank you’. It’s a Big Thing that you’ve just done for yourself.
Sticking with the theme of Big Things, what I want to talk about today shares its first letter with the first letter of this month but that’s just coincidental really. (I wonder sometimes where my brain is going but bear with, I’m getting there!). Today’s theme might only have four letters and in that sense it’s a small word but its nature is very powerful indeed. I want to talk about FEAR. When you think about it, it’s actually massive and, if we allow it to, can hold us back enormously.
Here’s some of the reasons why:
- It can stop us from trying something new for fear of failure
- It can stop us from doing or saying the right thing in case it makes us less popular
- It can stop us from enjoying each day due to fear of what tomorrow might bring
- It can stop us from developing in our personal relationships with one another by being afraid to talk freely
- It can stop us from performing to the best of our ability in whatever it is that our day entails
- It can stop us from being us.
It’s easy to see the pattern: the word ‘stop’ and ‘fear’ go hand in hand. Fear wears an outfit whose colours are dreary; the fabric of its being is uncomfortable and itchy. It doesn’t hang well, yet we still choose to wear it. Today I’m asking myself why? There’s a hundred and one reasons why and for each of us, the answers will be different but that’s no reason not to ask the question.
So….. hello February……I’m asking it of you! This month, I’ve set myself a challenge. Every day when I wake up and look at you, I’m going to ask myself what it is that I’m afraid of and I’m going to stare right back at it. I’m going to grab fear by its ankles, tip it upside down and give it a shake. Some days I’m sure, will be harder than others to grab its pesky legs but there are going to be more days than not where I have you firmly in my grasp.
This month, be you, be proud of how far you’ve come, stand up for what you believe is right and look at fear for what it really is: a four letter word.
And finally, for all of you who’ve experienced the joy of seeing The Greatest Showman at the cinema last month, you’ll understand when I say, This Is Me, will now always be my go to song for lyrics that uplift, inspire and remind me to kick fear right up its backside.
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