Last week's blog touched on facing your fears to find your inner warrior. This week, facing fears played a huge role for this season's contestants in their journey to good health. Though several contestants were scared of the water and the beam in this week's challenge, Maria's fear of the water paralyzed her, and it made me think... Why does fear have so much power in our lives? This concept hit close to home because lately I have been riddled with fear... More on that idea in a moment.
Dictionary.com defines fear as a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
As Dr. H talked to each of the contestants about their health issues, I vividly remembered having a similar conversation with him myself. If memory serves me, it was early during week two when I was accosted with the knowledge that my prior choices were, in a nutshell, killing me. What sticks out even more in my mind is lying in bed that night and realizing that I wasn't scared of dying. Because of my belief system and everything that had happened in my life, I knew where I was going, and quite frankly, death would be easier. Then it came to me... I was scared of living. Fear set in when I thought of moving forward with my life without my family.
Jillian's moment with Maria in the pool was pure magic. Moments like that compel viewers to tune in each week. To watch someone face their fears head on and conquer them gives us all hope that we too can overcome. This lesson of overcoming fear came at the perfect time for me. I'm still figuring out how to move forward in this life of mine, and lately I have been almost paralyzed with fear as I branch out in a new direction. While I faced and overcame so many fears in my Biggest Loser journey, real life has just begun, and along with it, fear rears its ugly head once again. Even as I write these words, there is a sense of fear... how will people perceive these words? Will they think me weak? But as I get these thoughts and fears out of my head and onto the page, I gain strength because acknowledging the fear allows you to face the fear.
What do you fear? I urge everyone who reads this blog to write down all the things you are afraid of. Sometimes things seem less scary when you identify the fear and allow yourself to feel the fear. Currently I have numerous fears: Fear of my ability to maintain this healthy lifestyle, fear of the uncertainty of the future, fear of endless changes even though many are extremely exciting. If I had to pick my biggest fear though, it would be fear of failure. Four years ago I was in a comfortable spot. I had a plan. I was confident in my abilities and failure was never a real thought. How I wish I had a formula or magic words that would explain how to eliminate apprehension. But life isn't easy.... It's an ongoing process where we are forced to continually face our fears, and we have a choice, we can ignore them and allow them to control us, or we can face them and ultimately overcome them.
Though I have been feeling the fear as of late, today I am choosing to face those fears. Today I am going to ask myself, what do I have to lose by trying something new? Today I am going to trust myself enough to take a chance. Today I am not going to try... I am going to do. Let's all take a deep breath, kick fear in the face, and dive in the deep end. SSSPPPPLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!!