When I thought about what this first blog post should be about, I made a list of areas in which people need encouragement. The list included family, marriage, work, a large task, etc. It seemed that many of the items on my list shared a common theme. Fear. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear that something bad will happen if…

Fear is one of the most insidious of emotions. It slithers into our psyche without our knowledge or permission, flashing pictures in our mind of the worst possible scenarios. Even when things are going well, it can raise its ugly head, suggesting misfortune is right around the corner. It’s a mist, a vapor that we can’t quite grasp. If we could only grab it by the neck and strangle it into submission, we could live and never be afraid. Alas, it slips through our fingers yet again.

One thing to remember is that the what we fear seldom materializes. Or at least it’s usually not as bad as we envisioned. The next is that it happens to everyone. Even the most brave person has felt fear, and will feel it again. So what do we do? Do we hide in the shadows, living our lives in the safe box that we’ve created for ourselves? Or do we step out and perhaps, just maybe, make a new life that we never dreamed could be ours?

You know what I’m going to say, I’m going to say step out. One step. Don’t envision the whole mountain, just the first step. You will probably find that the mountain begins to shrink to a hill. And if you’re wrong? If you find out it wasn’t the correct route? Hey, it was just one step.